Return of Uzushio
by bluejay24
Summary: At a young age Naruto is left for dead, but is found by a retired ninja. Watch as Naruto becomes a powerful shinobi and Konoha grows to regret their mistake. Smart, more balanced Naruto. Pairings undecided. Will be epic length. M for language, gore, possible lemons
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone. This is my first attempt at writing a story, fanfiction or otherwise, so know that it will improve as the story progresses. I'd be ecstatic to get any input from you guys. Is my writing crap? Tell me so I can get better. Anyway, I think it'll be good to establish some things early on: Naruto is still quite young in this story and hasn't become a grinning idiot yet. He hasn't found any friends, or acceptance from anyone (Ichirakus don't exist). All this means Naruto doesn't have a particularly good perception of Konoha. **

**This chapter will probably be the shortest in the entire story. It's an introduction to get the story kicked off, and each chapter from now on should be at least double its length. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>In the evening of October 10, a small 7 year old boy with blonde hair and three whisker marks on each cheek could be seen running down the street. Like each year previously, Naruto was being chased by a mob of angry and very drunk civilians. Sometimes they would catch him, other times not. Though he would always heal inexplicably within a few hours, not leaving so much as a scratch.<p>

Due to years of practice and the pursuers' inebriation, however, he was able to slip into an alley unseen. He breathed a sigh of relief, then made his way back home, deep in thought.

This had happened every year, yet he was never told why. 'Why does everyone hate me? What did I do to them?' Nothing, of course. As much as he tried to forgive the villagers or justify their actions, Naruto couldn't help but hate them.

With his thoughts turned inwards, Naruto didn't notice that his door was open. As he wandered in, he realized something was wrong, but it was too late. His eyes widened momentarily before everything went black.

"Hurry up and kill the demon so we can get out of here Raido," said one man.

"I have a better idea Han," Raido grinned, "let's make it suffer before it dies."

Han's grin matched his friend's, "What do you have in mind?"

"We take him out of the village and leave him out in the forest so that it can die slowly of hunger. A demon like him doesn't deserve a quick death."

"Agreed," said Han, before dumping the boy in a bag and slinging it over his back.

The two men made their way out of the village undetected, and continued east through the forest for several hours. Once they felt they were far enough they dropped the bag unceremoniously on the ground before each giving it a kick and leaving.

Hours later, Naruto woke up, crawled out of the bag, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He took in his surroundings, and wondered why he was in the forest. As Naruto wandered around looking for any landmarks to guide him, the events of the night before came back to him.

He was kidnapped and left for dead in the forest, that much was easy to figure out. 'Whatever, I'll just have to find my way back to the village. Explaining to the guards where I was will be a pain though.'

He continued walking looking for anything familiar for a minute, before climbing a hill and taking a long, sweeping look around the surrounding area. Seeing no sign of civilization, he was hit with a realization. 'Shit, I can't even see the village from here. What am I going to do?! I don't even know which direction it's in!' Naruto panicked, picked a direction and ran frantically as fast as his small legs could take him.

After a few minutes of useless running, he had tired himself out, and slumped against a tree. With this short break, his rational side took over. 'Ok, since I can't see anything familiar, I'll be here for a while. I'll need to get food so I'll still be alive when someone comes looking for me.' Naruto then began to look for something to eat. After all, he hadn't eaten for a while up till now, and was already hungry.

Naruto went from place to place, looking for something edible. It shouldn't have been hard, because after being kicked out of the orphanage, nobody was willing to feed him. Therefore he had learned what was and wasn't edible through trial and error over the years, as he would rather poison himself and have a chance of surviving, than starve and give in to certain death.

Before long he noticed that he didn't recognize any of the plants in the area. It was clear now that he was very far from Konoha. If the fauna wasn't familiar, he likely wasn't even in the same region of Hi no Kuni. Because of this, the chances of someone finding him were slim to none.

Naruto pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and decided to try to catch an animal to eat. This would be the first time, as he'd never needed anything but berries and fruit. He came to the conclusion that his chances would be better if he had some sort of weapon so he found a stick and sharpened it to a point.

Naruto found several rabbits and deer, but before he could get close they each detected him and ran off. This process was repeated countless times, and Naruto soon found that it had already begun to get dark.

His eyelids had already started drooping, so he made his way to a small hollow created by the roots of a tree, laid against the side, and promptly fell asleep.

Naruto woke up the following morning, and immediately felt hunger pains and thirst. He considered looking for food again, but in light of his recent failures, he decided it'd be better to look for help. So he began to wander in a straight line, figuring it was the fastest way to find a town or road.

For hours he continued walking, as his hunger and thirst grew worse. It seemed that nothing was going his way, not that it ever had. Thinking back on his life in Konoha, Naruto realized just how bad it had been. All the kids at the orphanage teased him, or worse, completely ignored him.

The orphanage's matron gave him an old mattress that should have been thrown out years ago, He was given just enough food to keep him alive (if he was lucky), and he was not allowed to keep any belongings, as they would claim that he 'stole' anything he would bring back with him.

When he moved into his apartment later on, his life improved very little. Stores would sell overpriced items to him or refuse to serve him at all, people would glare at him or even hit him if he came too close, and each year during the celebration of the victory over the Kyuubi, he would be chased until he was inevitably caught and beaten to within an inch of his life. After that he would return to his apartment only to find that it had been ransacked and his few belongings stolen.

This gave him a little hope that maybe he could find somewhere else to stay, where he wouldn't be treated like dirt.

With these thoughts in his head, he made his way with renewed vigor. After another hour or two of walking, it seemed that Naruto finally had some good luck. A small dirt road came into view. It was in bad shape, indicating that it was rarely used, but it was a good sign nevertheless.

He followed the road for the remainder of the day, finding nothing, and going to sleep hungry yet again.

On his third day in the wilderness, Naruto was beginning to lose his strength. At this point a part of him wanted to just lay down and sleep, but he knew if he stopped now it was unlikely he would get back up.

Naruto trudged down the path, as his vision began to blur. He lost his balance and stumbled face first into the ground. It felt nice just laying there, but Naruto gathered his willpower and managed to get back on his feet.

For another hour, he hoped against hope that he would find someone before it's too late. As he walked, his body began to shut down, and he knew it too. 'It seems that this is it for me. Not exactly how I wanted to die, but at least the villagers don't have the satisfaction of killing me themselves,' he thought with a humorless smile.

Naruto stumbled again, but this time he stayed down, as he had already fallen unconscious.

Unbeknownst to him, a tall old man, in his early seventies, with gray and red hair was walking down the very same road, on his way to purchase supplies from the nearest town. He saw Naruto lying face down in the dirt. For a moment, he was worried that the young boy might be dead, but noted that he clearly wasn't as he was still breathing.

The old man decided to delay his errand and tend to the boy, so he picked him up and made his way back to his home in the forest.

-Konoha Council Chambers, Next Day-

"As of this morning the search teams have been unable to find Uzumaki Naruto," the Sandaime said seriously. "I've extended the search but it does not seem likely that he will turn up."

"Finally that disgusting piece of trash is gone! My daughter and I can sleep peacefully now," said one exceptionally loud council member with pink hair.

After uncovering his ears, another council member stated confidently stated, "Good riddance, that little gaki did nothing but cause trouble."

Save for a few in the room, each member of the council had similar thoughts.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched all this before closing his eyes and sighing sadly, 'Minato, Kushina, I'm sorry. I've failed you in every way, and now I've failed your son.'

One man with bandages covering his entire right side, sitting quietly with an unreadable expression thought, 'Those idiots, don't they realize now that we've lost our weapon Konoha will be seen as weak? This wouldn't have happened if that fool Hiruzen had given him to me like I wanted.'

"Did he run away?" Danzo suddenly asked.

An ANBU with a boar mask was waiting quietly on one end of the room. He looked over at Hiruzen, who nodded at him. He then spoke up, surprising most of the room's occupants who hadn't even noticed his presence. "There were no signs of struggle in his apartment, and nobody seems to have seen him at the time of the disappearance. However, the door was left ajar, which could mean any number of things. All of his belongings remain, making it unlikely, but not impossible, that he left of his own volition. This all points to a kidnapping, though we have no way to be certain."

Danzo appeared to be satisfied with this answer, and began scheming about how he might turn this occurrence to his advantage. 'This is the perfect opportunity for me to gain control of the Kyuubi. If my Root is able to find him before Sarutobi, then I can train him in secret and Konoha will gain a powerful weapon.'

"Is this all you called us for Sandaime-sama?" asked one council member in a bored tone.

"Yes. It was. You are all dismissed, I will call you again if there is any important news regarding Uzumaki Naruto." replied Hiruzen calmly, suppressing his anger at the council's flippant attitude towards the disappearance of the person he considers to be his surrogate grandson.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello again! Glad that you made it through. Since you're able to tolerate my writing, it gives me some hope you might actually read my story. So I'd like to give a bit more insight on how this will play out. There will definitely be a pairing at some point. It will almost definitely not be any girl from Konoha. Chances of a harem are slim. If it works I might add a second girl. Lemons will also show up later.<strong>

**This fic is rated M, and I will not water the story down. There should be plenty of bloodshed and gore, and no characters are safe (well maybe Naruto). **

**Naruto will become strong fast, but for good reason: first, he won't have multiple comrades picking up the slack when he makes mistakes. Also, in canon he learned the kage bunshin no jutsu in hours, so he no doubt has plenty of potential (not to mention mastering elemental manipulation in days despite shitty chakra control). Third, I'm just tired of seeing Naruto get his ass kicked then winning on determination alone. Keep in mind that Naruto will still often cut it close, or lose altogether.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, I'm glad you came back for more. Since there will inevitably be questions about the story due to the many plot holes that will probably arise, I've decided to address questions anyone might ask before each chapter so I hopefully don't get questions twice.**

**Yuki no MuraSeishin: Is there a possibility there will not be a pairing... pairing.**

**A: Sorry, but there will be a pairing for sure. It will not be all that important in the plot and it won't have much time in the spotlight, so hopefully you still read. I was thinking either Fuka (not crazy and doesn't have creepy powers) or Honoka (still alive... that's important).**

**thor94: do you plan naruto knowing his legacy (namikaze and uzumaki)? and friendship kurama (beside sarutobi, jiraiya and kakashi, only the fox can tell naruto about his parents)**

**A: His Uzumaki heritage will be discussed in this chapter, and as the title suggests it plays an important role in the story (kinda just what drives the entire plot). As for his actual parentage, yes he definitely will. That will be a few years into the future though. He will not be friends with Kurama in the foreseeable future, but they will interact and at some point have at least a begrudging partnership.**

**Ok, if you want to suggest a pairing keep in mind Naruto isn't friendly to Konoha and people won't randomly defect... so Anko could be on the table, but Ino, Hinata, others just won't work. Similar situation with loyal shinobi of Kumo, Iwa, or Suna. If you insist on one of them anyway, please include how you think I should get them away from the village.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Naruto opened his eyes and stared into the dark ceiling. He glanced around and noticed he was in a small but cozy room with sparse furniture and several bookshelves. "Am I dead?" he wondered aloud. Naruto was surprised when he actually received a response.<p>

"Far from it, young man. But if I had found you any later there's a good chance you would be." responded the old man kindly. He was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room looking at Naruto.

Naruto was relieved to find he was alive, but also confused. Through his short, miserable life, the closest thing to kindness he had ever experienced were the brief and rare visits from the Hokage. And even then it was primarily to deliver his monthly stipend. 'Why isn't he looking at me the way everyone else does?' Naruto asked himself. Then a frown made its way onto his face. What did this man want from him? Was he trying to lower his guard so he could hurt him later? No, he was too weak to even run at this point, he was defenseless. If he wanted to harm him he could have already. What could he be after?

The elderly man noticed the varied emotions playing across the boy's face and inquired "Is something wrong?"

Naruto didn't respond immediately. He maintained a guarded expression and eyed the man. Now that he got a good look at him Naruto could tell he was very old. The man looked to be well into his 70s, but just like the Hokage, not at all feeble. He was average height, but towered over Naruto due to the age difference. His eyes were light green, and radiated kindness on the outside. If one looked deeper, something else was there, but Naruto couldn't figure out what. His hair stood out more than anything, though. It was a faded red color mixed with strands of gray hair. Never in his life had Naruto seen anyone with red hair before.

"Who are you? And why are you helping me?" he asked carefully.

Now it was the old man's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about? I'd have to be a heartless bastard to leave a child to his death. And my name is Akifumi. Now, young man, it's only fair that you tell me your name as well."

Naruto sighed. This man actually seemed like he was genuinely trying to help. Even if he meant him any harm, there was nothing he could do in the state he was in. 'Oh well, there's no harm in telling him' "Uzumaki Naruto," he responded curtly.

Akifumi eyes widened for a moment before he reverted to his previous expression. "Well Naruto-kun, would you like something to eat? You look like you haven't eaten in days."

Naruto nodded. He was beyond hungry at the moment. Even if this man had bad intentions and poisoned him, he didn't care. As long as he could eat he was content.

He attempted to push himself off the bed and get up, but didn't even have the strength to accomplish that. Instead he decided to roll himself off the bed. This worked, but unfortunately he wasn't able to catch himself and fell on his face.

Akifumi turned back to see what caused the crashing noise and saw Naruto lying face down on the floor. He continued to look for a few moments before breaking out into laughter. Awhile after he quieted down, and asked, "Would you like some help?"

Naruto wanted to glare at the man but couldn't, as he was still face down. Instead he just grunted an affirmative.

Akifumi then put Naruto's arm over his shoulder and helped him stumble his way out of the room and into the kitchen. The kitchen was small, just like the room where he had recovered. In the middle of it was a small table with a single chair. 'Akifumi-san must live by himself' Naruto thought.

Akifumi brought Naruto over to the lone chair and helped him sit down. He then went over to make something to eat while Naruto waited patiently.

The two remained silent while Akifumi was searching for something to eat. Naruto felt slightly awkward with the silence. Akifumi was oblivious to the situation because he was deep in thought.

'Uzumaki, huh? It's unlikely he was simply given that name, since most at least know of the Uzumaki clan, but then again he doesn't have any of the characteristics of an Uzumaki. Maybe he's only part Uzumaki? I suppose I can ask him, though I should be careful what I ask so he doesn't get suspicious.'

Akifumi brought a tray of bento over to Naruto and placed it in front of him. Naruto shakily picked up the food and managed to make it all the way to his mouth. He felt as if it were the best thing he had ever tasted, but that was likely the hunger talking.

Akifumi decided this was as good a time as any to question him. "Naruto-kun, how exactly did you end up face down in the road?"

Naruto frowned. He didn't want to be reminded of that now. He just wanted to enjoy the meal he was having. 'I might as well tell the truth. He seems trustworthy and he did save my life.'

Akifumi noticed the frown but didn't comment on it.

"I was kidnapped from my apartment and left to fend for myself in the forest." Naruto stated bluntly, hoping to get back to eating his food.

The old man didn't let this happen though. "Kidnapped? You can't be serious. What reason would they have to kidnap a child? Do you come from an important family or clan?"

Naruto scoffed. "Clan? No. I'm an orphan, and nobody ever told me who my parents were. And I was probably kidnapped so they could get rid of the 'demon brat' once and for all," Naruto said bitterly.

'Now this is interesting. An orphan with the last name Uzumaki. Interesting, but it doesn't make things any clearer. What did he say about the demon though?' Akifumi's eyes widened for the second time in 10 minutes. He remembered something he had seen earlier after he brought Naruto back.

* * *

><p>(Flashback : The Day Before)<p>

_Akifumi had just laid Naruto down on a bed and started performing basic medical treatment. He removed Naruto's shirt to have better access to his torso. When he did that the first thing he noticed was that the boy's ribs were clearly visible. He made a mental note to get some food in him as soon as he woke up._

_He then used a basic diagnostic jutsu to determine if the child had any internal injuries. As he channeled chakra through his hands and into the boys body, a large seal became visible._

_The seal was incredibly complex, and covered the boy's entire stomach. What was most important though, was the strength of the seal. It was one of the Uzumaki clan's most powerful seals, the eight trigrams seal. This seal was usually only used to contain something very large and very powerful. Anything less than a bijuu would be stored in a lesser seal. 'Could this boy be a jinchuriki? No, no self-respecting village would lose track of a jinchuriki.' Regardless, he was curious. He would make sure to ask the boy about it later._

(Flashback End)

* * *

><p>"What village was it you were living in before you were kidnapped?" asked Akifumi innocently.<p>

"Konohagakure no Sato," replied Naruto with a hint of anger in his voice.

Yet again Akifumi's eyes widened. The only bijuu Konoha ever had was the Kyuubi. But he had heard that the Yondaime Hokage had managed to kill it somehow, though he was skeptical of that. Bijuus are sentient masses of chakra, they can't simply be killed. The only way to defeat a bijuu was to seal it, usually inside a host. The Kyuubi was a special case though. It was the most powerful of the bijuu and the only people who could be its jinchuriki are Uzumaki, due to their powerful chakra.

There was no doubt in his mind now. This Naruto was really an Uzumaki, and the Kyuubi was not dead. He knew this because its jinchuriki was sitting right in front of him.

Akifumi decided it was best to tell him these things sooner rather than later, though he'd at least let him finish his food first.

So the two stayed in silence for the remainder of the meal. When Naruto was finished, he had gained enough of his strength back to at least stand on his own, though walking was still somewhat difficult for him.

"Naruto-kun, why don't you sit down? I have some things I would like to talk to you about," Akifumi said carefully.

Naruto complied, then asked, "Akifumi-san, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Naruto-kun, you are familiar with the Kyuubi attack, correct?" inquired Akifumi.

"Of course, everyone knows about it. The Yondaime sacrificed his life to kill the Kyuubi no Kitsune and save the village," stated Naruto confidently.

"Actually, that's not what happened. The Kyuubi cannot be killed. It's a mass of chakra, it can only be sealed."

"Seal? Like into a scroll? What could possibly hold the Kyuubi?" asked Naruto in disbelief.

"No, usually a bijuu is sealed into a human. The Kyuubi is powerful enough, though, that regular humans cannot handle the strain of housing it," replied Akifumi.

"Regular humans? Who was the Kyuubi sealed into?" Naruto was curious why he had never heard of this before.

"The only person who can house the Kyuubi is an Uzumaki. You are the jinchuriki Naruto-kun. But before you begin to think you are the Kyuubi, know that you are its jailor. You are two separate beings," said the old man sadly. He hoped Naruto would take it well. As long as he understood his relationship with the Kyuubi he should be fine though.

Naruto simply sat there with his eyes wide. Everything was that had ever happened to him made sense now. Why he was glared at when he was doing nothing but walking down the street, why he was called the 'demon brat', why he was sold spoiled food, and every other bad thing that happened to him was because of the Kyuubi. No, it was because it was sealed into him. The fault lay with the Yondaime. Naruto felt an immense anger at the man. Why him? Why did he have to be sacrificed for the village? Did anyone stop and think how he might feel about it?

He'd sort out his feelings about that later. Something else had caught his attention. 'Akifumi said Uzumaki like there are others. Do I really have family?' This thought got Naruto excited.

Akifumi sensed what was going on, and decided to answer the unasked question, "Yes, the Uzumaki are a clan. The most powerful after the Senju and Uchiha, actually."

This shocked Naruto. Not only was he from a clan, but it was on par with the Senju and Uchiha. And all this time he thought he was just another orphan. He couldn't wait to meet his cousins.

"Where are the other Uzumakis? There weren't any living in Konoha that I can remember," Naruto asked happily. The broad smile on Naruto's face faltered when he saw the sad expression on Akifumi's face.

"As far as I know the few that are left have scattered and possibly changed their name," Akifumi said sadly. He then brightened slightly. "Though you do have me, Afkifumi Uzumaki."

"You're my family?" Naruto was dumbfounded. He had managed to run into the only known member of his family, and all because he was kidnapped. He couldn't believe his luck.

"Wait a second. What happened to the Uzumaki? You make it sound like they're in hiding," Naruto pointed out.

Naruto regretted asking, as he felt an absurd amount of killing intent rolling off the man, and it wasn't even directed at him. Looking at Akifumi, Naruto could see pure hatred and anger on the man's face.

Akifumi noticed he was leaking killing intent and calmed himself down, and braced himself to tell the story to the boy in front of him. After he suppressed his anger he asked, "Have you ever heard of Uzushiogakure no Sato, Naruto-kun?"

"No. I've heard the shinobi in Konoha talk about other hidden villages, but never Uzushiogakure," he replied, wondering where this was going.

Akifumi frowned slightly. 'Figures those bastards would forget even after what they did.' He then saw Naruto staring at him and continued, "Uzushio was a secluded hidden village located on a large island near Kirigakure. It was once as powerful as a great village, and was the home of the Uzumaki, and a few lesser clans. Even with their strength, they were a peaceful people, and preferred to stay out of the conflicts the other villages started."

"If it was so strong, what happened to it?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"The Uzumaki and Uzushio were becoming a threat to other villages. Their skill in the obscure art of fuinjutsu gave them a leg up on ordinary shinobi. This however, was their downfall. When the great villages saw how strong Uzushio was becoming, the decided they had to stop their growth before they became too powerful. Having a common enemy, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure formed a temporary alliance to destroy Uzushio. Kiri remained neutral because they were wary of the Uzumakis power, and Konoha was allied with Uzu. They each assembled roughly a third of their entire fighting force and they marched on Uzushio. The Uzumaki, however, had protected the island with extremely powerful fuinjutsu, making entry impossible for their enemies."

Naruto was becoming angry. His family that he had only known for minutes was destroyed simply because they were powerful. But there was one thing that didn't make sense to him. "If the Kumo-Iwa-Suna alliance couldn't even reach Uzushio, how was it destroyed?" he asked.

At this point a wave of killing intent hit Naruto again, but this time it was even more powerful, so much so that Naruto began sweating.

Akifumi tried to control himself but couldn't help but raise his voice, "Uzu's ally, Konoha was aware of Uzushio's defenses. They too saw Uzu's growing power as a threat to their own. They could not attack Uzushio, since they were allies, but they revealed the nature of the barriers and traps around the island and gave information on its defenses. With this information the alliance swept into Uzushio and overwhelmed it with sheer numbers, but not before half their own force was obliterated. Besides a few groups of civilians and the shinobi protecting them, nobody in the village at the time survived. They executed the prisoners as well as the women and children, in the hope that the Uzumaki would not come back. I was one of the few lucky shinobi tasked with escorting the remaining civilians," Akifumi ended ruefully.

Naruto was seething. The great villages went to war and his home village of Konoha betrayed their own ally, his family, because they felt threatened? And if this was not enough, they killed thousands of innocent people who were not even shinobi. This treachery could not be forgiven. One way or another, he would find retribution, and rebuild his clan. Naruto realized this was a long road, and that it would be years before he was ready, but this was the only option. He could not let those cowards get away with their crimes.

Akifumi saw the fire burning in Naruto's eyes and his lips twitched. 'Good. I can see his determination. With that attitude Naruto-kun will go far.'

Naruto then spoke. "Those traitorous bastards must pay," he ground out.

Akifumi nodded in agreement. "I agree with you. Their time will come, but I'm too old and you are far too young and weak to do what you're thinking."

Naruto sighed. He needed to get stronger, but he doubted anyone in Konoha would be willing to 'help the demon regain his power'. Now that he thought about it, he would have to return to that godforsaken village once he recovers.

Naruto said quietly to himself, "How can I go back to the village knowing everything it has done?"

Akifumi caught this with his improved hearing and grinned wide. "You know, you don't really have to go back," he said. "You could stay here with me, and I could give you the training you need to get stronger."

Naruto of course was ecstatic hearing this, but deflated when he thought of an issue. "Won't Konoha come looking for me since I'm their jinchuriki? I doubt they'd let someone as valuable as me go without a fight," he said sadly.

"Hmm, well you said you were kidnapped right? Well I'm sure they have some idea what happened to you, and probably think you're dead or long gone by now," Akifumi said thoughtfully. "Plus, I can hide this place with a strong genjutsu so nobody can find us here."

Naruto saw no fault in this plan, and nodded happily.

"Well Naruto-kun, since that is all sorted out, I think it's best that you focus on recovering for the next few days." Akifumi stated.

"I guess you're right," Naruto replied reluctantly. He didn't want to sit still longer than he had to, but he supposed if it made him recover faster it was alright.

"I know you want to train now but that will do nothing but prolong your recovery. Don't be down though, because I have something to teach you while you rest, part of your heritage," he smiled.

"What is it?" asked Naruto

"Fuinjutsu. For now it will be all theory work, and calligraphy, later on I will help you with actual sealing."

Naruto was excited to learn the specialty of his clan. If he were not an Uzumaki it may sound boring, and continuing his clan's legacy far outweighed his hyperactive tendencies.

With that Akifumi went to his basement where his small library was and brought back several large scrolls about fuinjutsu theory as well as blank scrolls for praticing calligraphy.

He placed the scrolls on a table and told Naruto that every day after his physical and chakra training he would give Naruto lessons on fuinjutsu and in the evening Naruto would practice his calligraphy and writing speed.

Akifumi then proceeded with explaining the basics of fuinjutsu and the different applications of it.

-Two Days Later-

"Well, since you are completely recovered, we should probably decide how I am going to train you. Have you received any form of training yet or done anything yourself?" inquired Akifumi.

"Nobody in Konoha was willing to train the 'demon brat'," replied Naruto bitterly.

Akifumi was actually somewhat glad he could train Naruto from scratch and teach him what a shinobi really is.

"Alright, before you do anything else, we're gonna get you into good physical shape. After your workouts I'll teach you chakra control exercises so once I teach you jutsus you can use them efficiently and to the fullest."

Naruto groaned. He felt a sense of foreboding about the physical training that Akifumi had come up with. But he would manage. He had to, for his family.

Naruto then resolved to put his all into his training. He would not slack off or slow down. He'd take everything Akifumi taught him seriously. After all, he was his clan's legacy.

* * *

><p><strong>If you're wondering if the Kumo-Iwa-Suna alliance was a mistake, it wasn't. I have good reasons for keeping Kiri innocent. <strong>

**If you think Naruto's immediate thought of retribution after hearing of Uzu's demise was too sudden or extreme, remember that he just discovered the existence of his family, then learned they were wiped off the face of the earth by these villages, and for stupid reasons too.**

**In addition to pairing ideas I'd like some input on another question.**

**Would you guys like me to spend several chapters on his training, summarize it in one, or do a time skip and cover anything confusing in flashbacks? I'd rather not spend a few weeks writing about the training only to bore everyone out of their minds.**

**Till next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back everyone. I'd like to let you know that several reviews have already given me inspiration for future plot points. So your reviews really do matter!... well unless I decide they don't. **

**10LawnGnomes: I'd go for a summary of the training, with maybe a glossary of the justu descriptions at the bottom?**

**A: Great idea, I'll do that, and maybe each chapter I add more I'll show an updated list maybe? Though that means I can't pull convenient jutsu out of my ass to fit the plot... damn (screw it I'll can do it anyway)**

**Interested Fan: By the way I loved Ichiraku can it be created in Uzushio if it is rebuilt. Is Naruto going to meet Haku?**

**A: Uh... never really considered it. If it fits into my story I might work Ichiraku's in. Naruto will meet Haku, and Haku will be a girl... guy Haku makes me confused. I can't describe their interaction without spoiling the plot... sorry!**

**Guest: Does this mean that even Kushina didn't know that Konoha betrayed her own clan!? Isn't Honoka a bit old for Naruto to be paired with?**

**A: Kushina does not know. Remember the line that said besides a select few, nobody in the village at the time survived? Well Kushina wasn't in the village, she was living in Konoha at the time, and nobody was able to tell her what happened. Good ol Konoha was there to comfort the grief-stricken girl. Oh, the irony. About the age difference, I honestly don't know how old Honoka is. When we get there I'll adjust it to be more reasonable. Same goes for anyone else I'm considering for a pairing. Fuka will be 18 or 19 when Naruto's 16, Mei will be in early 20's at same point, etc.**

**Kit: (holy shit that's a long comment)**

**A: um, I hate to throw out the entire idea but since it all depends on Naruto joining Akatsuki it just won't work. As for the suggested pairings Konan is way too old (she's in her mid to late 30s I think) and I can't change her age without messing up timeline. Itachi is still male (sorry) and also isn't exactly keen on the idea of destroying Konoha (you should know why). Rin is dead, and if she were brought to life she porbably wouldn't join Naruto (again, loyal shinobi of Konoha, she sacrificed herself remember) As for Mei there is a chance, but she's the Mizukage and she can't just abandon her duties and follow Naruto. We'll see where the story goes. I'll try not to close any doors early on, so to speak.**

**Ok, since the pairing suggestions are all over the place, I'll add some parameters. It has to be someone that would have joined Naruto ANYWAY. No love at first sight bullcrap. Girls aren't gonna see him and suddenly start humping his leg. (that'd be pretty badass though!) The relationship will develop slowly, Naruto will have to lighten up also (the irony in that statement is palpable)**

**I realized that Akifumi is an OC and I didn't describe him very well. For a visual imagine Tazuna with reddish-gray hair.**

**There will be multiple timeskips this chapter (won't be labeled though), and it will end when Naruto is 14 years old. His training phase will be wrapped up at the start of the next chapter.**

* * *

><p>'Akifumi-ojiisan is a slave driver,' thought Naruto tiredly. He had been running laps around his adopted grandfather's property for an hour after doing pushups, situps, and squats until he felt like he was on fire.<p>

After this of course, he would have to repeat the process again before finally moving onto chakra control exercises.

Naruto had unlocked his chakra the day after he recovered, but when he was meditating in order to find his chakra, something unexpected happened.

(Flashback : Day After Recovery)

_Naruto was sitting cross legged in the forest with his eyes closed and muscles relaxed. He was hoping by calming himself he could feel out his chakra. He went deeper into meditation and suddenly felt a sort of pull in his mind. Thinking he had finally felt his chakra he let himself be pulled by the feeling into his mind._

_He suddenly found himself in a dreary hallway that seemed to be a sewer. 'How did I get here?' he thought. 'I was just meditating and suddenly I found myself here. Well, no use thinking about it, I should just find a way out. Seeing a large pipe that seemed to be bulging and leaking a large amount of water, he followed it thinking it must lead out._

_He spent a few minutes following it before it led into a gigantic open room. Naruto glanced around and his eyes widened when he saw a huge metal cage, many times larger than himself. After getting over his shock, curiosity got the better of him._

_He approached the cage slowly, wary of whatever might be inside it. As he got closer, he could make out heavy breathing coming from the darkness in the back of the cage. Standing in front of the cage he heard the breathing quiet and two bright red eyes met with his own before the eyes' owner spoke._

_"**So my container finally comes to see me. What is it that you want ningen?" **questioned the creature in a deep voice that reverberated inside Naruto's chest._

_In his wonder Naruto ignored the question and asked, "Container? Wait, you're the Kyuubi! Where am I? How did I end up here?"_

_The Kyuubi walked out of the shadows, revealing his entire massive form, and growled, **"You're inside your mind near the seal, and how should I know how you got here? Now tell me what you want so I can go back to sleep."**_

_"Well, I didn't really come here on purpose so… maybe we could introduce ourselves? We will be living together until I die, so we should probably get to know each other."_

_The Kyuubi snorted,** "Why would I befriend a pitiful ningen like you? All your kind wants is the power that we bijuu possess anyway. As for being together for live, I plan to escape this prison before that happens. I've had to live in this filthy sewer for 7 years and I'm not spending any more time here than I must."**_

_Naruto was a little disappointed but then adopted a thoughtful expression. "You said we're inside my mind right? Well shouldn't that mean I can change what the surroundings look like?" Naruto queried._

_He then tried thinking of a vast grassy landscape with a few mountains off to one side beside a small lake. To both his surprise and secretly the Kyuubi's, it was actually very easy._

_What was in Naruto's head a second ago was now… in Naruto's head_

_The bars of the cage contorted and wrapped around the Kyuubi's neck, similar to a collar. He now had more freedom but the seal's effects were still in place._

_The Kyuubi at this time was quite happy that it was out of that dark, disgusting sewer and could stretch his legs, but not so much that he wasn't suspicious of Naruto's motives. His previous containers had never done anything out of kindness, only struck deals with him or attempted to manipulate him._

_"**What is it that you want from me, ningen? Do not think that I owe you simply because you changed the appearance of my cage," **the Kyuubi growled._

_Naruto shook his head before saying, "Of course you don't owe me, I just don't think it's right to keep you locked up like that."_

_The Kyuubi chuckled darkly, and said, **"Despite me attacking the village and making your life miserable, you are still kind to me? You are more foolish than I had imagined."**_

_Naruto frowned at this and replied, "I don't care you attacked Konoha, if anything those bastards deserved it." At this the Kyuubi inwardly raised an eyebrow. "And it wasn't you that made my life miserable, it was the villagers. I don't blame you for any of that, therefore I have nothing against you whatever you may think."_

_Naruto realized the Kyuubi wasn't going to speak again, and decided to leave. He left similarly to how he entered, after feeling the pull he grabbed onto it and allowed it to take him back to the real world._

_'**You sure are an odd one, Uzumaki,'** mused the Kyuubi._

(Flashback End)

After that, Naruto had continued meditating, making sure not to draw himself back into his mind again, and after an hour or so of meditation he unlocked his chakra. Akifumi was a not a sensor but Naruto's chakra was so powerful Akifumi could sense it even from inside his house.

In the weeks since then, he mastered leaf balancing, tree climbing, and was now working on water walking. It took him longer than a child of his talent should have, but that was because of his abnormally large chakra reserves.

His studies with fuinjutsu had been surprisingly easy. It seemed that fuinjutsu truly was in his blood, as he could theoretically be called a level 2 master out of 10. His calligraphy was almost up to par, and he could nearly make seals without causing them to explode in his face.

Naruto could currently be seen running across a pond while holding multiple leaves onto his body with chakra. He was able to water walk fairly easily, but it still wasn't efficient enough. He was told by Akifumi that if he could stay on the water for an hour while holding the leaves on, they would move on.

Of course this spurred Naruto on to surpass himself each day, and today he was getting very close. He was exhausted physically and mentally from focusing for such a long period of time. As he was nearing the hour mark he started feeling heavier. He fought to keep conscious through the last minute when he heard Akifumi call time.

He smiled knowing he was one step closer to his goals and promptly slid into the water. Akifumi saw this and sighed, 'Idiot,' before running over and pulling Naruto out of the water.

Naruto woke up in the chair Akifumi had placed him in and smiled groggily at him. "What are we gonna do next?" he asked.

"Now that you've mastered the chakra control exercises I've given you, we are going to move onto the most basic shinobi art, taijutsu. Also, since your body is not strong enough to handle the strain, you will wear weights while doing your daily workout," replied Akifumi, who grinned when he saw the look of dismay on Naruto's face.

"But the workout was hard enough with no weight, how am I supposed to finish it now?" Naruto asked, beginning to resign himself to his fate.

"I'm sure you'll find a way. Being faster and stronger than your opponent is a huge advantage in battle, and shinobi must take every advantage given to them. This training could very likely save your life," said Akifumi, becoming more serious.

For the next few months, Naruto learned a variation of the **Gouken** which incorporated more feints and grappling than the vanilla version. It was a painful ordeal for Naruto, since he had to fight Akifumi (who he suspected was not really holding back like he said). On the bright side, he was improving quickly. Fighting a former jonin trained Naruto's eyes to adjust to his speed and he became better at anticipating blows, since he wanted to avoid getting hurt more than he already was. At the same time Naruto practiced throwing kunai and shuriken and incorporated them into his taijutsu to create openings.

Once Naruto was proficient enough to beat most genin and low level chunin, Akifumi decided to add something extra to his training regimen.

"It's time you learn how a shinobi thinks and behaves Naruto-kun," said Akifumi seriously.

"Like what Akifumi-ojiisan?" questioned Naruto.

"Great shinobi are not great for their powerful jutsu. The things that make shinobi what they are, are stealth, trickery, deceit, intelligence, tactics, strategy. If one can poison a kage's food and assassinate him, then he doesn't need any S-rank jutsus. Even in open combat, using feints to fool an enemy can be more effective than trying to overpower them with speed and strength. Shinobi aren't afraid to stab their enemies in the back, or throw sand in their eyes. I think you are beginning to understand," said Akifumi as he saw the understanding on Naruto's face.

"So where are you going with this Ojiisan? I understand what you're telling me but I don't see how this relates to my training," said Naruto curiously.

"Since your taijutsu is now passable, we will cut the time you spend training it in half, and use that time for reading scrolls on battlefield tactics and work on your stealth. I'll also help you learn how to suppress or flare your chakra, since there are many situations where this may come in handy. After your studying I will give you scenarios and you will tell me the proper course of action. You will keep doing your physical training and fuinjutsu this whole time too," Akifumi responded.

Naruto was slightly disappointed he would still not be learning any ninjutsu but knew the importance of what Akifumi was going to teach him. He knew too many shinobi relied on jutsu to beat their enemies, that's why the current shinobi world was so comparatively weak.

So for the remainder of the year Naruto continued his training and studies, and proved to be quite a shrewd tactician, actually managing to outwit his adopted grandfather on occasion, despite the gap in experience.

Naruto would soon turn 8 and he was gaining slight muscle definition and was now 4'5", a huge gain over 4'2" he was at age 7. This could be attributed to him getting enough food, and healthy food. He was proud to be able to say he could defeat any genin in combat even with no nin or genjutsu. When it was finally time for Naruto to turn 8, Akifumi decided Naruto deserved a reward for his hard work and great improvement.

Now, if it had been a normal family Naruto may have been given some sort of toy or other trinket, but this was nowhere close to what he received. Akifumi decided it was time to finally teach Naruto jutsu. Upon hearing this, Naruto was ecstatic. He didn't care that they were the three most basic jutsu, it was still something and he was eager to grow stronger.

Akifumi also determined that Naruto's calligraphy and sealing knowledge was good enough for him to start creating actual seals, and would teach him generic sealing.

For the next month or two, Naruto learned the **Henge**, **Bunshin**, and **Kawarimi**. Besides simply using how to use the techniques, he also practiced incorporating it into combat and making each feel like second nature to him. Generic sealing was a breeze for Naruto. He mastered it quickly and Akifumi had him move onto more advanced fuinjutsu theory ahead of schedule.

Before teaching Naruto serious ninjutsu, Akifumi thought it would be best to give him the ability to employ them during real combat first. So prior to ninjutsu training he would need to improve Naruto's evasion skills and handsign speed.

So each day Naruto would practice making hand seals under duress and dodging while Akifumi would throw blunted kunai and shuriken at him. Sometimes Akifumi would change up the process by making **Mizu** **Bunshin** without Naruto's knowledge and having them throw their kunai and shuriken as well. Naruto would be hard pressed to dodge so many projectiles from so many angles and would often turn in covered with shallow cuts and bruises.

Once Naruto could last the day without being hit, Akifumi was satisfied he would be agile enough to stay unharmed and still utilize ninjutsu.

Naruto was now 8 and a half years old, and was sitting calmly waiting for Akifumi with the news he said he would share with Naruto.

Naruto watched curiously as Akifumi entered the room laden with various scrolls. He placed him on the table in front of Naruto.

"What are these Ojiisan?" asked Naruto, still wondering what they might be.

Akifumi smiled. He knew Naruto would be excited when he hears what he brought with him. "These are ninjutsu scrolls, Naruto-kun. I think you are ready since with all the evasion training and tactics you finally have the ability to use them effectively during real combat."

Naruto was gleeful on this inside but just grinned wide on the outside. "What are we gonna learn first Akifumi-ojiisan? Will it be **Mizu** **Bunshin**? Or maybe-"

"Before we start I'd like to test your elemental affinity," interjected Akifumi. "It will give me a good idea of where to start with your ninjutsu training."

"Elemental affinity? Don't we know I'll lean towards suiton and doton since I'm an Uzumaki?"

"I'm glad you are taking your studying seriously," replied Akifumi. "But there is a chance that your non-Uzumaki's affinities will be dominant or you could just have neither. Anyway, it's better to be sure and it is an easy thing to test," said Akifumi as he pulled out a piece of paper.

"Is that chakra paper?" Naruto asked.

"Yes it is. It will show us your natural affinities towards elemental ninjutsu and if you have multiple it will tell us your dominant or strongest affinity. If the paper crumbles, you have an affinity to doton jutsu, if it crumples raiton, if it becomes soaked with water suiton, if it burns katon, and if it splits in half you have a futon affinity."

Akifumi then handed the paper to Naruto and instructed, "Just channel some of your chakra into the paper and it will do the rest."

Naruto did as he was told and channeled some chakra into it. After a few minutes, much to the surprise of both Uzumakis, the paper split into 2 pieces before the largest piece was disintegrated into water, while the smaller piece burst into flames.

'How is this possible? Most people are born with one or two natural affinities, but I've never heard of someone with three,' thought Akifumi in shock.

"What happened? Is the chakra paper defective or something?" Naruto questioned. 'I can't possibly have three affinities. Only certain bloodline users have more than two natural affinities.'

"Chakra paper cannot be defective, I think you really do have 3 affinities. And it seems your fuuton and suiton affinities are unusually strong. Your parents must have been something else because their blood runs strong in your veins. Unfortunately I can only train you in suiton jutsu since you don't possess my other affinity, doton. Still, you should consider yourself lucky. Suiton is a good defensive affinity, katon is very strong offensively, and fuuton is offensive and can increase the strength of other attacks. You have very good balance and have a wide range of possibilities with this variety," Akifumi said sagely.

Naruto nodded in understanding. Akifumi made a good point, having such variety would be a big advantage in battle. Not to mention he had the ability to counter three of the five elements, making most ninjutsu near useless as long as he had chakra.

"Well we had better get started. I'll show you how to do **S****uiton: Teppoudama** first." said Akifumi, interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

Akifumi then showed Naruto the hand seals and performed it himself to show how it was done. He explained how to mold the chakra in one's body then said, "Now the greater mastery you have over the technique, the shorter the hand sign sequence will be. If you are skilled enough, you can use as little as one seal or none at all."

Akifumi then motioned for Naruto to try it himself.

Naruto performed the seals quickly then said, "**Suiton: Teppoudama**," and shot a large mass of water out of his mouth and at a nearby tree. He noticed that Akifumi's had been much larger than his own.

"I'm sure you've realized that my **T****eppoudama** was much larger than your own. Why do you think that is?" asked Akifumi.

Naruto thought to himself for a moment, then asked, "Is it that you have just more experience and practice using it?"

"That is definitely a factor, but the main reason is that I have a greater mastery over the suiton than you. If you want your elemental jutsu to be powerful, it's necessary to train for months or years in elemental manipulation. Most jonin have only mastered two elements," answered Akifumi.

"I'll teach you the exercises for suiton manipulation, and I want you to continue until you completely master each one. Knowing ninjutsu means nothing if you can not use them correctly," Akifumi continued.

The training consisted of pulling water out of a water source and holding it in the form of a column between the hand and the water. To Naruto this sounded quite easy, but using pure elemental manipulation was actually quite difficult. After a month of working on the exercise along with continuing his other studies, he could only pull the column halfway to the point Akifumi said would indicate mastery.

Naruto was not discouraged, though. It actually had the effect of making him more determined than ever. In the next month he had completely mastered the exercise and was now ready to move onto the next exercise, which after the difficulty of the last, seemed to be a daunting undertaking.

It consisted of standing in a stream and placing one's hands in the stream, then using pure chakra to completely cut off the flow of water and hold it in place. It was made very difficult with the fact that the water was flowing, and Naruto had to adjust to fit the fluctuations of the water.

Naruto's original impression of the difficulty of the exercise was proven right. For two months he could do little more than slow the water down. Soon after that though, he managed to stop the water entirely, if only for a moment. He had been ecstatic but deflated once Akifumi had told him he had to hold it for ten seconds. By the end of the month, Naruto had reached four seconds, and soon before his 9th birthday, he lasted ten seconds and finally mastered the exercise.

This was convenient as it allowed Akifumi to continue Naruto's training and give him a birthday present at the same time. Now that Naruto had mastered suiton manipulation he could move onto learning suiton ninjutsu.

When told of this Naruto smiled. Akifumi noticed as time passed Naruto's endless energy seemed to be toned down. He would no longer jump up and down in excitement when he could learn something new. His old toothy grin was replaced with a more subdued smile. He talked slightly less often too. He was more focused on his studies and training. This lack of animation did not hurt his determination, however. If Naruto wanted something done, he wouldn't rest until he finished.

Akifumi thought this was odd for a 9 year old, but supposed he had already matured beyond his years due to his treatment in his home village. Someone in his position could not have remained naive for long.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Naruto's voice. "Now that I'm learning ninjutsu, what will I be taught first?"

Akifumi responded, "Remember **Suiton: Teppoudama**? First I want you to master that and make it second nature to use it, and we'll go from there."

And Naruto did. It was a fairly basic jutsu and did not give him much trouble. After a week or two Akifumi felt he had sufficient mastery of it, and they moved onto a technique that Naruto had already seen Akifumi perform before, **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu**. Planning for the future, Naruto spent a full month on the technique despite it's simplicity. By the time he was done he could make a **Mizu** **Bunshin** with just a simple thought.

He then moved on to **Mizu** **no** **Muchi**, a technique used to disarm or grab opponents that only required a few hand seals. This was an easy technique and it was mastered in two weeks. Next came **Suiro no Jutsu**, which allowed someone to trap their opponent in a sphere of water, that doesn't require hand seals. He managed to get this down in another two weeks.

Akifumi then decided Naruto should learn a defensive technique, and taught him **Mizu** **no** **Tatsumaki**, which created a tornado that blocks or deflects attacks aimed at the user. After a few weeks working on it, Naruto was good enough to move on.

Deciding to add to Naruto's offensive repertoire, Naruto was taught **Suiton: Taihoudan** by Akifumi, which fires a powerful jet out of one's mouth towards the target. This was fairly simple and was mastered within another three weeks.

After this Naruto worked on **Suiton: Suijenheki**, a defensive jutsu that is more powerful than **Mizu no Tatsumaki**, but only protects the front of the user. Naruto completed his training for the jutsu in just two weeks.

By now Akifumi figured Naruto was skilled enough to move onto more powerful and wide ranging techniques. He decided a good place to start would be with **Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu**, which creates a water dragon and directs it at the target. Naruto spent roughly a month and a half learning and practicing the technique before moving on.

Next Naruto learned a mid-strength and wide ranging technique, **Suiton: Mizurappa**, which creates a wave of water that washes the opponent away. He practiced this for a month before he was content with his progress.

Naruto then learned one of Akifumi's most powerful suiton jutsu. **Suiton: Bakusai Shoha** sends a massive wave at the enemy and requires a gigantic amount of chakra. Naruto trained in this technique for a whole three and a half months. It took much longer than usual because it took so much chakra to perform. He could not use it very many times before becoming exhausted.

Naruto spent the next two months learning **Sensatsu Suisho** and **Suiton: Shigure**. Both jutsu using large amounts of small projectiles to overwhelm the enemy.

Naruto was now 10 and had learned all of the suiton jutsu Akifumi had to teach him. All of the last year he had kept up his physical training, and his studies. All Akifumi had to teach him at this point was the Uzumaki clan's specialty, fuinjutsu.

For the next year Akifumi taught Naruto how to create chakra suppression seals and explosive tags of various strength, explosive, and a weak chakra storage seal, which Naruto placed on himself. He was also taught paralyzation seals. During this time Naruto also learned higher level sealing like the, five elements seal, aspects of the eight trigrams seal and so on. They also went over various unsealing techniques, evil sealing, and different reinforcing seals that could be used on weapons or objects.

Towards the end of the year Akifumi showed Naruto how to create detection and defense barriers using fuinjutsu, both of which were more complex and took longer to create than the other seals, and not that useful in combat. In addition to these he also learned several privacy seals.

By this time Naruto was a little older than 11, and had mastered all the suiton jutsu and fuinjutsu Akifumi was able to teach him. Naruto still had to develop his katon, futon, and raiton affinities but Akifumi could not teach him. However, Akifumi did own some scrolls that dealt with manipulation and jutsu of these elements, which he gave to Naruto.

Naruto decided it would be best to develop his katon affinity first, since he already developed his defensive affinity, suiton, and wanted to develop his most offensive affinity, for balance. It was fairly easy to master the elemental manipulation exercises for katon, but it took longer than it had for suiton. The scrolls were good enough that he knew what to do, but he theorized his katon affinity was just weaker. After seven months of training he felt he was ready to learn more ninjutsu.

Between then and his 12th birthday he learned and mastered **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu**, **Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu**, **Katon: Kaengiri**, **Katon: Endan**, and **Katon: Karyu Endan**. It took longer to master these jutsu than the suiton jutsu because of his weaker katon affinity, and he didn't have Akifumi to give him tips to speed up the learning process.

In the next nine months Naruto spent his time learning more advanced and wide-scale katon jutsus. He managed to learn **Katon: Zukkoku**, **Katon: Goenka**, and **Katon: Goka Mekkyaku**. Each of these was very powerful and due to the difficulty and chakra cost, took a long time to master.

Satisfied with his achievements with katon jutsu, he thought it'd be best to develop his futon affinity next. Naruto found the manipulation exercises for futon to be especially difficult, which could be attributed to the wild and uncontrollable nature of wind. The vague descriptions in the scrolls did not help either. All in all, it took Naruto about eight months to master futon manipulation.

Naruto discovered that Akifumi did not have many futon scrolls, but worked on the ones he did find. Until he turned 14, Naruto learned **Kaze no Yaiba**, **Futon: Renkudan**, **Futon: Daitoppa**, **Futon: Kami Oroshi**, and **Futon: Sutoriimu**. From pure power and skill alone, at this point Naruto would be rated at sannin level, but without experience, he could only hold his own against a strong chunin or weak jonin.

It was Naruto's 14th birthday, and he had grown to an impressive 5'9", quite tall for his age. By now he had lost just about all his baby fat, and was now well toned and muscular. His hair now reached down near the base of his neck in the back, and his hair in front reached to his chin framing his mature face, while his bangs covered his forehead. His hair had lost some of it's spikiness, giving him a hair style reminiscent of the Yondaime Hokage.

For a gift Akifumi could not teach Naruto any more jutsu, but he still had something left that would be just as good. Confused when he saw a long wooden case, with the Uzumaki crest engraved onto it, Naruto asked dumbly, "What is it?"

"This Naruto-kun, is a family heirloom," he started, opening the box to show a katana within a jet black sheath. He pulled out the katana to show a katana with a long curved blade, made of dark grey metal, and covered in engraved seals, which Naruto recognized as reinforcing seals. "This katana has remained in my family for four generations, it was given to me by my father when I was your age, and it is a symbol of your entrance into manhood. I'm very proud of all you've accomplished so far, and have full confidence that you will achieve all that you have set out to do," continued Akifumi, smiling all along the way.

Naruto didn't know how to respond. It was somewhat obvious that Akifumi treated him as if he were his own grandson, but Naruto did not think he would accept him into the family to this extent. For Akifumi to give someone a family heirloom who was not even of his own blood was a very big deal, and Naruto appreciated the gesture greatly.

He accepted the gift and placed it on a table before wrapping Akifumi in a tight hug. "Thank you so much ojiisan."

"What? you don't think that's all do you?" asked Akifumi.

"What do you mean Akifumi-ojiisan?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Well, how do you think you're gonna learn how to use that katana?"

* * *

><p><strong>Longest chapter yet. Took a good bit of research to find the techniques. No one site seemed to have a complete list. <strong>

**I actually had some trouble writing it because I left too much time for his training. A lot can get done in 7 years, and Naruto is somewhat of a prodigy in this story, so pacing it was difficult. Hope I wrote it in a somewhat interesting way, because I spent a lot of time on it.**

**If you didn't already guess, the Kyuubi does not know of Naruto parents, and also his parents chakra was not sealed into him. Don't worry though, he'll still meet his parents one way or another, just not the way you might think.**

**In addition to giving descriptions of all new jutsus, I'll keep a full list on my profile. I'm also wondering if you want me to use the Japanese names and give translations in the AN or only use it for really generic things like shunshin or kawarimi? **

**Please be critical of my writing. I haven't gotten any writing tips yet and I'd like the story to be engaging for more than just the plot...**

**Also, I'm excited for Naruto's weapon. It'll be a nodachi, which is a very heavy hacking sword usually with a five foot long blade. It is a unique and somewhat specialized weapon, and few know how to use it (or teach it, but I have a maybe too convenient solution lol), so for now he'll have to stick to kunai. Due to it's size it would usually be carried in your hands. I was gonna have Naruto wear it diagonally on his back (but would be awkward pull it out) or horizontally on his lower back (which might look ridiculous). If you know of a better way to carry it please say so.**

**Jutsu List: (descriptions, jutsu names, etc from Narutopedia)**

**bunshin no jutsu - clone technique - **ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance

**henge no jutsu- transformation technique - **typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons

**kawarimi no jutsu - body replacement technique - **users replace their own body with some other object

**shunshin no jutsu - body flicker technique - **high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported

**mizu bunshin no jutsu - water clone technique - **creates solid clones out of water that have one-tenth of the original person's power

**suiton: teppoudama - water release: gunshot - **user converts chakra to water, then spits it out in the form of condensed balls

**suiro no jutsu - water prison technique - **technique is used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water

**mizu no muchi - whip of water - **technique that utilizes water to create a whip

**mizu no tatsumaki - tornado of water - **technique that utilises water to create a spinning water vortex around the user

**suiton: taihoudan - water release: large projectile - **user is able to attack with a giant blast of water by spitting it as a strong stream from their mouth**  
><strong>

**suiton: mizurappa - wild water wave - **Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy

**suiton: shigure - water release: showers - **condenses water vapour in the air to generate multiple projectiles of water which shoot at their opponent with a great amount of force and speed

**sensatsu suisho - thousand flying water needles of death -** gathers some water from the air and surrounding environment into one thousand long needles, then directs them to a specific target at high speed**  
><strong>

**suiton: suiryudan no jutsu - water release: water dragon technique - **shapes a large amount of water into a giant, powerful dragon

**suiton: suijenheki - water release: water formation wall - **creates a wall of water around the user

****suiton: bakusai shoha - water release: exploding water colliding wave -** **user spits out a great volume of water from their mouth, swallowing up and crushing the enemy with the advancing surge**  
><strong>

**katon: gokakyu no jutsu - fire release: great fireball technique -** chakra is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower

**katon: hosenka no jutsu - fire release: phoenix sage fire technique -** creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying in an unpredictable manner assaulting the enemy

**katon: zukokku - fire release: intelligent hard work -** fires a small fireball that erupts into a giant fire-storm after making contact with a surface, causing widespread destruction to the area

**katon: goenka - fire release: great flame flower -** user creates a multitude of fireballs at the same time which then rain down on the target causing severe, widespread damage

**katon: kaengiri - fire release: flame slice -** user firstimbues their blade withfire, before slashing in the direction of the desired enemy, resulting in the creation of large arcs of intense flame

**katon: endan - fire release: flame bullet -** technique simply shoots a flame bullet at the enemy

**katon: karyu endan - fire release: dragon flame bullet -** user kneads their chakra into flames, which are then manipulated into a genuine-looking dragon

**katon: goka mekkyaku - fire release: great fire annihilation -** chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and then expelled from the mouth andshaped into a massive wall of intense flames, which covers a wide range as well

**kaze no yaiba - blade of wind -** pinpoint slashing strike, where the user emits chakra from their fingertips andmaterialises it into a near invisible weapon that assaults the enemy in a gust of wind

**futon: renkudan - wind release: drilling air bullet -** a smaller version of Shukaku's attack, in which the user shoots a highly compressed ball of air from their mouth

**futon: kami oroshi - wind release: godly wind from the mountains -** creates a vortex of wind to blast at a target

**futon: daitoppa - wind release: great breakthrough -** relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust ofwind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree

**futon: sutoriimu - wind release: stream -** by blowing air from their mouth, the user is able to change direction while in mid-air at high speeds. It can also be used to attack an opponent

**Next chapter will wrap up Naruto's training and he'll take a field trip.**

**Seeya next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. I had to study for midterms and write a paper. Anyway, it has been brought to my attention that I'm a bad writer. In all seriousness, though, I can see I made a mistake by rushing things along so much in the first 3 chapters. I'll continue to edit them while I keep writing new chapters, and if I feel the need I may rewrite them completely. **

**Guest: Is Naruto going to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu!?**

**A: I considered it, but no. He learns things fast enough as it is. It's function as a training tool is usually a crutch for Naruto in stories where he is not taught properly to begin with. He has a good grasp on chakra theory, etc in this story so it's hardly necessary. Mizu Bunshin fill any other roles.**

**10LawnGnomes: Personal preference would be to have the english translation next to the justu, but that's just because I'm not familiar with the manga and typically watch the dubbed anime. your call, I still get the jist of it, but smetmes it's easier to picture what has to be dodged, a whip vs a giant fireball vs a chakra construct would all be very different.**

**A: I agree, but when I said in context, I mean that I'll likely describe the visuals as well. So it should be obvious to everyone if it's a water whip or fireball.**

**Mekfal: Uhm, can you please make it so that Jutsu names are in bold, and they have capital letters.**

**A: Already changed, my friend. I'm surprised I hadn't done something similar to begin with.**

**Kit: Anyway can Tayuya and Karin and Temari join the harem**

**A: I said there wouldn't be a harem, so no.**

**KuramaFTW: (long review, good points, basically I'm making Naruto overpowered)**

**A: Naruto is on his own for a lot of the story, with no back up like he does in canon, and his goals are quite different and more ambitious. Besides that, I took away his raiton affinity. He will be improving slower from this point so I thought it was best he start out relatively strong.**

**Other things I'd like to address: Oto-Suna invasion still happened, Danzo is not hokage. There was another candidate who was overlooked for whatever reason in canon. **

**Naruto accepted Akifumi's words quickly. It's been argued he would have trust issues and wouldn't believe him. However, it could also be said that he'd be willing to trust anyone who showed him even a shred of sincere kindness after the life he had. **

**Konoha's populace hated Naruto. It's not rational. After all, emotions aren't rational. They believed he either was the Kyuubi or was being controlled by him. **

**I usually try to justify changes I make to the existing universe, but often I can't and won't try to. So some people will make different decisions in the same situations. I will attempt to keep that from becoming a common occurrence, though.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>After weeks of just doing kenjustu katas, Naruto and Akifumi had finally gotten to sparring. Akifumi said Naruto must have impeccable basics before he could attempt any sort of fighting, but Naruto had a feeling Akifumi just liked to torment him. After all, Akifumi didn't even try to hide the fact he enjoyed watching Naruto struggle during his physical training sessions.<p>

Naruto was showing surprising progress with the use of his katana, but Akifumi attributed this to having an amazing sensei.

The two Uzumaki's could now be seen taking swings at one another as the other parries or blocks. Well into their current bout, Naruto saw Akifumi was out of position and took his chance. He put more strength than usual into his swing hoping to break Akifumi's guard. Akifumi recovered in time and blocked the blow, resulting in a deadlock. It remained this way for a few moments, then Akifumi acted. He pulled back slightly, giving Naruto a little ground. Naruto had not been expecting this, and was left slightly off balance. This was enough for Akifumi though, and before Naruto could regain his balance kicked Naruto away.

Naruto received a glancing blow from a tree before landing on his back. He tried to get up, only to find cold metal against his neck and a grinning Akifumi standing above him.

Naruto sighed in annoyance. After an entire week of sparring, he still hadn't landed a meaningful blow on Akifumi. He wouldn't give up though. He still had to pay back the old man for tormenting him under the guise of 'training'.

Akifumi offered Naruto his hand and Naruto took it. Naruto brushed the dust off his clothes before they each headed back to the center of the clearing. They each took their respective fighting stances before giving a nod indicating they were ready.

With the understanding that the match had started, Naruto disappeared and reappeared to Akifumi's right before starting with a downward slash. Akifumi saw it coming though and blocked the swing, before pushing Naruto off and immediately slashing diagonally at Naruto's chest. Naruto managed to just barely redirect the sword and avoided being cut. He then jumped away to create some distance between the two.

Seeing this, Akifumi took the initiative and charged Naruto intending to impale him on the katana. Naruto was surprised at the action but easily parried the thrust before swinging up towards Akifumi's shoulder. Akifumi managed to dodge the swing and deflected the following one. Following shortly after he countered with another thrust, which was redirected by Naruto. He continued with a powerful downward strike that Naruto was forced to take head on. It took all his strength to maintain his guard but Naruto managed to hang on. Naruto pushed back with a little more effort which separated the two enough for him to attempt a horizontal slash. Akifumi took his eyes off Naruto for a moment to focus on the sword coming from his side.

Naruto saw what would likely be his only opportunity and took it. Before Akifumi could react, he sent a powerful kick to his stomach which sent him flying away. Akifumi tumbled once before landing on his feet.

Before he could celebrate this small victory, however, Naruto noticed something that worried him. Akifumi had just coughed into his hand a few times after the landing and Naruto could see some blood in his palm and around his lips.

"You alright, Ojiisan?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Akifumi put on a fake smile and said, "Oh don't worry about me, that kick must have just been harder than usual."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at this but didn't respond. 'I didn't kick him hard enough for him to cough up blood. I didn't even enhance it with chakra.'

Before Naruto could contemplate the occurrence further, Akifumi said, "Well I think we should call it a day. You've made impressive progress, especially if you were able to hit me, but I need some rest."

Naruto watched as Akifumi walked into the house. He didn't believe that nothing was wrong, and he was irritated that Akifumi was trying to hide it from him. He'd respect his grandfather's wishes for now, but would still keep an eye on him.

Naruto followed Akifumi inside and slumped into a chair. While he rested he contemplated why he trained, why he felt the need to be strong. Obviously he wanted to restore his clan and punish the great villages. But was it simply for revenge? No, he decided, it was justice, and it was his duty to honor the Uzumaki clan this way. He hated Suna, Kumo, and Konoha for what they did, but he hoped he would go down the same path regardless.

Content with this answer, he looked into the other room where Akifumi was sleeping. He was already fast asleep in his bed. 'Wow,' Naruto thought, 'he really must have been beat.' He frowned. There was no way he could be so tired after what they had done that day. The sparring was relatively light, and Akifumi was not that old.

'Maybe I'm worrying too much. Anyway, there's no use thinking about it, I'm sure he'll tell me when he's ready.'

With these thoughts in his mind he grabbed a few scrolls and took them to his room to do his daily studying, before going to sleep himself.

Naruto woke up the following morning refreshed. He got up and walked to the kitchen. Akifumi was absent so Naruto figured he must still be asleep. Naruto made himself a quick breakfast then left the house in order to train.

After going through his various physical exercises, he entered the house looking for Akifumi so they could begin sparring as soon as possible. It appeared he had woken up recently because he was just now finishing breakfast. Naruto found this odd since it was already late morning and usually Akifumi woke up about the same time as him.

"When are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Naruto asked sternly.

A tic mark appeared on Akifumi's head at the tone but inwardly he was cursing. He wished Naruto was still an idiot like he was when he found him. He didn't want to have this conversation. Not yet at least.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Akifumi said lamely. He hoped Naruto would just drop it.

His wish wasn't granted though. "You're a terrible liar, you know that? Can you at least let me do a diagnostic jutsu on you?" (only medical jutsu Naruto knows)

Akifumi sighed. He already knew what was wrong with him. He'd been intentionally hiding it for this very reason. 'I suppose it's time for him to know.'

"Fine, go ahead."

Naruto walked over to Akifumi and put his hands on his torso before channeling chakra to his hands and searching for anything unusual.

Naruto cursed when he found it. "It looks like Dieulafoy's Lesion," said Naruto. It was treatable, but neither Uzumaki could do it.

"It looks like we'll have to go into town and find a doctor," Naruto said hopefully.

Akifumi sighed. "Any hospital short of one of the great villages' won't do. Even they may not. It's not a shinobi injury, so it's likely only Konoha has the proper supplies."

Naruto hated it, but he had to agree. "Well then we'll just go to Kon-"

"We both know that can't happen. If we go to Konoha, then questions will be asked, and it'll bring problems. They can't know you're still alive or you'll lose any chance of pursuing your goals. And if they discover our relation they probably won't even leave you alive. They'd likely assume you knew the truth and all loyalty was lost."

Naruto raised his voice, "So what, you just want me to let you die? If it isn't treated your chance of survival is slim to none!"

"Naruto-kun, I'm old. Even if I live through this I don't have much time left. I don't want you to be taking care of me in my old age while you should be accomplishing your dreams. It's not worth the trouble it would cause."

"But you're the only family I have. Nobody else cares for me, when you're gone I'll be completely alone," Naruto said dejectedly.

Akifumi's expression softened. "I'm sure you'll find new precious people Naruto-kun. You're a good kid and you're bound to make friends now that you're outside Konoha. Anyway stop talking as if I'm already dead. I've still got some fight in me," he ended lightheartedly.

This did little to brighten Naruto's mood. Akifumi was his anchor. He was the only one that cared for Naruto, and vice versa. Without Akifumi, Naruto's life was empty. No family, no friends, only his ambition. After a life of neglect, he had finally gained recognition and happiness, only for it to be taken away. He would roll with the punches though, just like he always had. Naruto felt like crying, but he was no longer a child and wanted to remain strong in front of his grandfather.

Without saying anything, Naruto left the room and next the house to halfheartedly practice his katas for the katana. It did little to clear his clouded mind. Realizing training wasn't helping him forget or even improve, Naruto finally went inside. He made eye contact with Akifumi before quickly looking away and walking to his room.

For the next few weeks Akifumi's condition became worse. The vessels in his stomach would occasionally rupture causing mild internal bleeding and he'd end up vomiting or coughing up blood. Naruto frantically studied medical journals and attempted to learn the necessary techniques to deal with it. It was slow going though because medical jutsu require very precise chakra control, something Naruto did not have.

The trouble was that the only option to address the lesion without a state of the art hospital was surgery, something that requires a good degree of skill. With so little time, it was unlikely Naruto would be able to progress quickly enough to even lessen Akifumi's symptoms, let alone address the issue.

As time passed, the condition took its toll on Akifumi, and he rarely left his bedroom.

It had now been almost a month and a half since Naruto discovered Akifumi's condition, and he was reading a scroll in the kitchen.

He suddenly heard retching coming from Akifumi's bathroom and ran in to see if he was alright. When he saw what was happening his eyes widened in horror.

Never had he seen so much blood. The entire interior of the tub was stained red, and Akifumi was still adding to it. It was clear to Naruto that this time more than a small vessel had broken. He rushed to Akifumi and half carried him to a bed so he could try to stop the bleeding. As they hurried to the bed Akifumi coughed blood onto Naruto. His cheek and shirt were soaked in blood but he didn't notice.

Naruto quickly laid Akifumi on the bed and went to repair the damage. He heard choking sounds and looked over to Akifumi's face. 'Shit!' He quickly propped Akifumi up so he wouldn't be suffocated by his own blood then placed his hands over Akifumi's stomach. When he found the problem he gasped. The artery near his stomach had ruptured. He had already lost an unhealthy amount of blood. Anymore and he could die. Realizing this Naruto worked franticly to close the tear but the blood gushing from the gap wouldn't allow him to.

He could feel Akifumi's heart beat faster trying to make up for the loss in blood pressure. Naruto was panicking by now. He was slowly repairing the damage, but it wasn't fast enough. His instinct was to pour more chakra in, but he knew that would do more harm than good. The flow of blood was beginning to slow down, and Naruto's hope was lessening by the second.

He was so focused that he did not notice a light shake of his shoulder. The second time, though, he did and followed the hand back to Akifumi. He was still coughing blood but it had slowed enough for him to speak.

"That's enough Naruto-kun," he said softly.

Naruto didn't want to ponder the implications of that statement as he went back to trying to fix the tear.

"Naruto," Akifumi said as loud as he could manage, "stop this."

Naruto complied and looked at Akifumi. He couldn't maintain eye contact and looked away with tears in his eyes.

Akifumi tried to give Naruto a warm smile, but with blood running down his chin and most of his clothing drenched in blood, it was hardly comforting.

"Naruto-kun, this is it for me. You're mature enough to go out into the world without your Ojiisan holding your hand," Akifumi chuckled before it turned into a short coughing fit. "I'm proud of you, and I will always be no matter what happens. I believe in you Naruto-kun," continued Akifumi between coughs.

Naruto couldn't control himself and finally broke down crying. He embraced Akifumi desperately and his tears mixed with the blood in Akifumi's shirt.

Naruto regained some degree of composure, at least enough to speak, "Please don't leave Ojiisan."

No response.

"Ojiisan?"

Nothing.

Naruto pulled away slightly to look at his grandfather's face. Akifumi's eyes were closed, and he was no longer embracing Naruto back. "Ojiisan?... Ojiisan!" Naruto yelled franticly as he shook Akifumi. Naruto calmed down enough to think with some clarity and worriedly checked for a pulse.

One second, two, three, four, nothing.

Akifumi had passed on.

Naruto couldn't process what he was experiencing. He could feel his despair at losing his only loved one. And rage because it was his fault. He couldn't protect the one thing he truly cared about. After all these years he was right back where he was as a seven year old, alone.

With the myriad emotions he was feeling, Naruto began to subconsciously draw on the Kyuubi's chakra. His eyes turned blood red, and the corrosive power further fed his rage and despair.

**"Calm down gaki! If you don't control yourself everyone for miles will sense you!"** the Kyuubi said to him, being able to speak due to the weakening of the seal.

Naruto did not comprehend the Kyuubi's words, but his voice at least reached him. His eyes returned to their usual ocean blue as he calmed down. He was not ok, but at the very least his rage was gone, leaving him only despair. Naruto looked at his blood drenched hands and again tears streamed down his face. After regaining his tear ducts had run dry, Naruto passed out from emotional fatigue from the horrific experience and physical fatigue from drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra.

Naruto woke up not the least bit refreshed. He wondered why he was sleeping on the floor, then remembered as a pained look crossed his face. He was threatening to cry again but willed the tears back. He couldn't just leave Akifumi's corpse lying there. He would need to be buried.

Naruto grimaced. He was not looking forward to this. He sighed tiredly. He needed to make a coffin first. He wasn't going to cremate him or bury him in some unmarked grave. Akifumi deserved better.

Naruto grabbed his katana before going outside. He found a tree large enough and cut it down by channeling futon chakra through the sword. He took a kunai and channeled a small amount of futon chakra into it and began shaving pieces off. It took most of the day, but when he finished carving it he was content with the result. It was simple, but certainly well made. On the top Naruto etched Akifumi's name and the Uzumaki swirl into the wood. He then went behind the house and begun the task of digging the grave. He made some **Mizu Bunshin** to expedite the process but it was still dark by the time it was finished.

Naruto entered the house, and gathering his courage, entered the room where Akifumi's corpse remained. He picked up the body respectfully and layed it into the coffin before taking a last look and sealing it with the lid.

Naruto made a few **Mizu Bunshin** to help him move and lower the coffin into the grave. They then filled the grave in with earth and placed a headstone next to the grave. It was identical to the coffin in that it had Akifumi's name and the Uzumaki symbol on it.

Naruto remained near the grave for awhile into the night before saying a few parting words and entering the house. He collapsed onto his bed without washing the blood, dirt, and sweat off himself and fell asleep.

Naruto woke up and stared at the ceiling in front of him sadly. A few moments later he slid off the bed and took a shower to cleanse himself of the blood and grime he had accumulated the previous day. He dressed in a black long sleeve shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the back and black ANBU pants. He then strapped on some jet black reinforced gauntlets, greaves, and chestplate, giving him a look similar to an ANBU shinobi. He sheathed his katana and strapped it to his back and sealed all the supplies he thought he'd need. Into a larger scroll he sealed any smaller scrolls he thought would be useful in the future and strung it across the small of his back.

He then exited the house, and paused. It probably wouldn't be smart to leave behind any unnecessary evidence, and he didn't think he'd enter the house again anyway. Naruto went through some handsigns and thought** Katon: Gokayku no Jutsu**. A large fireball exited Naruto's mouth and enveloped the front of his old home. After a moment Naruto ended the jutsu and watched the flames until the house was gone. He stopped by Akifumi's grave again, before leaving the property and heading towards Konoha.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello everyone, sorry if the chapter's a bit heavy, but character death is never fun. Naruto will be greatly affected by this, though it might not be obvious until much later. He blames himself for Akifumi's death, thinking it was due to his own weakness. <strong>

**Kurama can not talk directly to Naruto under normal circumstances. I don't know how the telepathic speech works but in this story the seal prevents it. However, a seal can always be tweaked or manipulated by someone who knows how it works. The relationship between the two developed slightly behind the scenes and that will come up as the story progresses.**

**Next chapter Naruto will travel to Konoha to hear news of the last 7 years and hopefully learn of his parentage. Most of the canon timeline is still intact, though I'm pushing a few events back a bit for the sake of the plot.**

**Cya next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone. Last chapter was somewhat misleading based on the reviews I received. I'm surprised you think so little of me that you thought I was gonna make Naruto a Konoha shinobi xD. I figured I made it abundantly clear something like that would NOT happen. I even said at the end of last chapter he was going to hear news of the last 7 years since he's been in isolation, and to hopefully discover the parentage kept hidden from him. **

**I attempt to be at least somewhat subtle because it always bother me when authors spell everything out. If this is an issue I could try to be a little clearer with my intentions. **

**Sigh.**

**Steam Powered Crow: Sad that Akifumi died. When you mentioned his illness, I thought you might go the 'find Tsunade' route. Will she be bad in this**

**A: Tsunade along with most of Konoha will be grey for the most part. No I won't suddenly make them all evil just because they are 'against' Naruto. The characters will retain their personality mostly, but the village will be more proactive in protecting its interests... hope that answers your question.**

**Guest: So when Naruto arrives at Konoha, the Oto invasion will have already happened!?**

**A: Yes. Things unfolded mostly the same way, but without Naruto there a few major changes will be seen.**

**Wacko12: so im kind of lost of what's happened so far. summary please**

**A: Um... did you read the story? Nevermind, I put a short summary on my profile that I'll update each chapter.**

**plums: Oh come on... Travel to Konoha? Next thing you'll do then is a wave arc. Keep the story original, don't go back to Konoha**

**A: ...I'm assuming you think Naruto will join Konoha and hug and make up with everyone. A massive 180 like that will not occur... ever. Reason for going there mentioned above. **

**Guest: great story so far i was just wondering how far you are going to take it**

**A: not entirely sure on how long to be honest. I have the plot for the next two dozen or so chapters thought out. Naruto will definitely be at least in his 20s if that's what your asking. **

**Sceonn: How could he effect the sickness just by being stronger? Greater and broader spectrum of abilities I could understand, but strenght? Seems like he didn't get enough critical thinking lessons. And why is he heading to Konoha? I thought he hated the village**

**A: Strength does not necessarily equal power. Being more versatile makes you stronger. Less weaknesses = more strength. ****Naruto had an opportunity to save Akifumi. Of course the chances of him mastering medical jutsu fast enough were nearly nonexistent, but that's not the point. After his loved one's death he was crushed, and because of that little bit of hope he did have, he blamed the death on his inability to save him. And yes, he does hate the village. I've already said why he is going there.**

**DLTA811: By"...pushing a few of those events" does this also include the Sandaime's dead**

**A: The answer is in the chapter. I said that simply so people wouldn't be confused when things happen at a different point on the timeline. **

**I haven't forgotten about Danzo, Akatsuki, or any other shadowy forces in the Naruto universe. The Uzumakis' home was protected and hidden by forest, along with a complex web of fuinjutsu and genjutsu, and it was assumed Naruto had died.**

**I'm surprised nobody seemed to care Naruto learned two of Madara's huge katon ninjutsu, but I'll address it anyway. He has a much weaker fire affinity than Madara, and he has less chakra too. Not only will the attacks be much weaker and smaller scale, but he can't use them as liberally as the Uchiha.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

><p>Naruto had been running for a few hours now, giving him plenty of time to come up with a basic infiltration plan. Though it was riskier than simply sneaking in, he felt posing as a civilian would be beneficial since it would provide more freedom once inside the village. With this approach though he ran the risk of being detected by the gate guards, but he was counting on them just being average chunin. Not to mention that with such a monotonous job, they were sure to become lax about security.<p>

Naruto slowed down when a road came into view, then jumped off the tree branch and landed on the very edge of the forestry, remaining just out of sight. It wouldn't be a good idea to just walk in without a story or any papers, so he'd have to steal them. He placed his scrolls in a hollow near the road and noted its location. He then waited for a few minutes, preparing himself once he saw a man walking along the road pulling a cart. Right after the man had passed, Naruto quietly snuck up behind him. Without being detected, Naruto chopped the man on the back of the neck. By the time he woke up Naruto would be long gone.

Naruto searched through the man's pockets looking for the papers that would get him past security. He found a passport along with the man's ID. Standing up, Naruto scanned the man and his clothing before doing a **Henge**. He then pulled the man off the road and propped him up against a tree. He walked back, took hold of the cart, and made his way to the village gate that he knew was about a mile away.

As he walked, Naruto suppressed his chakra, hoping none of the gate guards were sensors. He could hide his presence fairly well, but could only fool ordinary shinobi. As he crested a hill the village gate came into view. The massive doors were open and the two guards were in the gatehouse.

While looking at the walls surrounding Konoha, something caught Naruto's eye. A large section of wall was a much lighter color than the adjacent wall. 'Must have been recently rebuilt,' he thought, 'But why would the wall have been destroyed? The village seems to be intact. Ah well, no use thinking about it, I'll find out soon enough.'

As he neared the gate the sight that greeted him made him roll his eyes. One of the two guards had their eyes closed and seemed to be napping, while the other was reading a book accompanied by an occasional perverted giggle. 'This is what a great village calls shinobi? They haven't even noticed me yet.' He considered just walking in without stopping but thought better of it.

Naruto walked up to the window of the gatehouse and knocked on the wall. The guard that was awake looked up and put his book away.

"Passport and identification please," he said lazily.

Another eye roll. Naruto pulled out the stolen papers and showed them to the guard. The guard seemed to look at the papers longer than Naruto expected, making him slightly nervous. His nervousness vanished however when the guard said, "Alright you're free to go," while waving dismissively and going back to reading. Naruto sighed and grabbed the cart again before entering the village.

Naruto ditched the cart in an alley the first chance he got and continued on with his fake persona remaining. As he walked he noticed a lot of new buildings and even a few under construction. Sections of the city near to the wall had a particularly large amount of new development. As he entered food stand he hoped the owner could shed some light on this.

"How may I help you?" the woman asked cheerfully.

"Oh, I was just curious why there is so much new construction around the village. Did something happen?"

The woman's expression changed from cheery to incredulous, "Have you been living under a rock? Otogakure and Sunagakure invaded during the chunin exams. A lot of people died and we still haven't recovered from all the damage it caused. Even our beloved Sandaime died," she ended sadly.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the first comment but shrugged it off. "Suna? I thought they were allied with Konoha? And what's this about Oto?" asked Naruto.

The woman sighed. "They were, but apparently they were tricked into helping Oto by that hebi-teme Orochimaru. Oto is a new village that Orochimaru founded himself. Because they were manipulated Konoha and Suna signed a treaty and are allied once again."

'Wow I missed a lot. And the old man is dead too.' The death of the Sandaime Hokage didn't really bother him. He was the only one who really treated him fairly, but he could have and should have done so much more.

Naruto figured he had already asked the owner of the stand too many questions. Before leaving he bought an apple to eat while he wandered around trying to learn more. He walked past a dango stand and heard some people talking. He turned and saw that they were shinobi. He decided to listen in for a moment.

"Did you hear? The leader of the Kiri bloodline rebels personally visited Hokage-sama and asked for help. He refused her outright and she went home empty-handed," one kunoichi said to her friend.

"That's kind of cold. They're being killed for something they don't have any choice in, I really feel for them. I guess it's not in Konoha's best interest to get involved. I don't envy Kakashi-sama with the decisions he has to make," commented the other.

Naruto mentally scoffed at the hypocrisy of the latter's statement, but brushed it off. What interested him was the mention of rebels in Kiri. It sounded like a civil war was going on, with kekkai genkai holders fighting the loyalists. He filed that information away for later, and considered the other news he picked up. 'Kakashi? Could it be the famous Hatake Kakashi?' Naruto questioned. He had read through a few older bingo books and he was one shinobi with a particularly nasty reputation. In the description though he was listed as an A rank shinobi, making him quite weak for a kage. The bar for kage is high to begin with though, and if he was forced to fight him, he was fairly sure he'd lose as he was now.

Naruto wandered through the marketplace hoping to pick up information, but the only other notable mention was of a 'last Uchiha' still gone from the village. 'Last... no that's not possible. When I was little there were enough Uchiha to fill a small village,' Naruto thought skeptically. He wanted to confirm this though and made his way to where he remembered the Uchiha compound was. Once he reached it he noticed a distinct lack of activity. There were no guards watching the entrance, no children playing in the streets. 'Oh shit it's true. How did an entire clan disappear though?'

As he left the compound he pondered the question. The compound was still in tact so it was unlikely everyone died in the invasion. It was too large a clan for them to have just withered away the last few years. Something didn't seem right about all this. Another powerful clan aligned with Konoha is all but destroyed under Konoha's watch. Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was a storyline that he was very familiar with.

'Oh well I suppose this doesn't concern me,' the blonde haired boy thought.

His mind turned back towards his other reason for being here. His entire young life he had thought he was just a nameless orphan. Nobody had known who his parents were, or at least pretended not to. He had learned that in reality he had a very rich ancestry, but he still hadn't discovered his parentage. To find that information he'd likely have to go to the hospital.

As Naruto made his way towards the Konoha hospital he thought of where they might keep the information he wanted. Usually it would have been left with all the other records, but it seemed that it was being kept secret for some reason. It was likely classified and there might be some special security he'd have to bypass.

He stopped in front of the hospital and looked around for a few moments. He noticed an open window on the second floor and made his way to it. He looked over each shoulder to make sure nobody was watching before quickly scaling the wall and peeking into the window. The patient was sleeping and there were no doctors in the room so he quietly climbed in and dropped to the floor. He **Henged **into a generic doctor and quickly generated a fake name and persona in case he needed to interact with anyone.

He peeked out the door before walking out and subtly searching for where the records are kept. He made his way into the administrative wing of the hospital and saw a sign over a door reading 'Patient Records'. He entered the room and saw it was arranged alphabetically. He went through the 'U' section but couldn't find his profile or any other Uzumaki. 'I was right, my records are being kept somewhere else.'

He walked around the edges of the room, hoping there was another section where the documents were kept. His search came to an end when he saw a six and a half foot tall steel door leading to another room. 'This could be a problem,' he thought. 'So much for a clean infiltration'

Naruto pulled out a premade privacy seal, placed it on the ground next to the door and activated it. This would keep what he was about to do quiet. Unfortunately somebody would inevitably see his handiwork when they came to pull something from the archives. Naruto unsealed his katana from the storage seal on his forearm. Channeling futon chakra through the blade, Naruto plunged the sword through the thick steel, before slowly dragging it through the door. It took a full minute to cut a square in the door. He then gave a powerful kick to the center of the square and knocked it loose.

It hit the floor with a loud crash, making Naruto glad he used the privacy seal. He then crawled through the hole, and took a look around the room he found himself in. It was a small room, with only two rows of cabinets inside it. He walked over to the end of one row where the 'Us' were kept. He flipped through the various names before seeing what he wanted. He pulled out the file labeled 'Uzumaki Naruto' and opened it up. He skimmed through the information until he found the record of his birth.

Tears of joy and longing found their way into his eyes as he read the name of his mother. 'Kushina,' he thought happily. He quickly went back to the cabinet and found the profile for his mother. When he opened the file he was taken aback by his mother's beauty. She had a soft, kind face along with very fair complexion. Her hair was a vibrant red, and from what Naruto could see was unusually long. Her eyes were a dull blue color, and the kindness he could see in them made it hard to believe she had been a kunoichi, a killer. Alongside the various medical reports was a brief analysis of her skills as a kunoichi. It would be an understatement to say he was surprised. According to this report she could have very well been the strongest kunoichi in the village, after the Slug Sannin of course. 'Kaa-san must have been awesome,' he chuckled to himself.

Naruto was in a very good mood as he turned back to his own profile, beside his mother's name was his father's. As his eyes scanned the name he scoffed in disbelief. 'Yeah right.' As he considered it though, the Yondaime did look a lot like him. Spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, Naruto's face was shaped like a cross between his mother and father. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The man he resented, who left him to a life of pain and hatred, as well as a leader of the village he hated... was his father. Naruto's form shook in anger before he calmed himself. It wouldn't do to lose his head in 'enemy territory'.

There was something that was bothering him. If this man was his father, why did he seal the Kyuubi no Yoko into his own son? Regardless of Naruto's opinion of him, he didn't think any father could do that to their own child. Not without good reason at least. He narrowed his eyes. It wasn't like he could ask the guy. He couldn't question the few people who had witnessed the sealing or knew Minato, it would give away his identity if they didn't recognize him already. With his hair at a similar length as the Yondaime had, he looked like a younger version of the man.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Naruto knew he had probably already been there too long. He quickly put the files away and closed the cabinet. They would definitely discover his presence due to the huge chunk taken out of the door, but they wouldn't discover who had broken in. He stepped out of the room and into the regular archives. As he turned his attention to the entrance he saw a nurse walk in looking at a clipboard. 'Damn it, not now!' he panicked.

The nurse seemed to sense another presence in the room and looked up from her clipboard, quickly noticing the destroyed door and guilty looking man next to it. "What are you-" the words escaped her lips before a kunai was lodged in her throat, stopping whatever she was about to say. She reached up to her now bloody throat before her world went dark and she collapsed to the ground.

Naruto caught the unfortunate nurse before she hit the ground and dragged her into the classified section so somebody wouldn't discover her body right away. As he carried her he made the mistake of looking into her shock and fear filled eyes, still frozen from the moment she was killed. He regretted killing this woman, but forced down whatever feelings were rising to the surface. It may have been his first kill, but he was on a mission and couldn't lose his composure at such an important time.

He exited the archive at a brisk pace, moving as quickly as possible without drawing attention to himself. He made it out of the hospital without any trouble, but could hear the commotion behind him most likely caused by the discovery. As he exited the hospital he **Henged** into an ANBU, so that he could move quickly without looking out of place. He took the less crowded route out of the village, the section that contained the clan compounds among other things. As he hopped along the rooftops, he stopped suddenly as he heard someone speak to him.

"I suggest you surrender before I'm forced to incapacitate you," spoke his assailant in tone with a dangerous edge to it thinly veiled behind a stoic voice.

Naruto turned quickly and narrowed his eyes at his opponent. In front of him was a boy, slightly older than him, with long black hair held out of his eyes by a Konoha hitai-ate, and pale white eyes with veins bulging all around them. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! I hadn't planned for the appearance of a Hyuuga.' Against one of them maintaining a **Henge** instantly made him a suspicious individual, as they could see it was present.

Naruto addressed the boy in front of him, "Oh come on, how bout you let me go and we both forget this meeting?" he asked, doubting the boy would consider it. He could probably defeat this boy, but it would likely bring other shinobi here. He couldn't fight off the entire village on his own.

He couldn't use any large ninjutsu against the Hyuuga without alerting someone, losing the main advantage he had in the fight. It would have to do though.

"I'm afraid that is not possible," the Hyuuga responded coldly.

Realizing time for talk was over, Naruto jumped down to the deserted street below, followed shortly after by the Konoha shinobi. Naruto unsealed his katana again, realizing it was the only edge he really had in this fight. Pure taijutsu with a Hyuuga would be suicide. Projectiles wouldn't be of any use other than as distractions due to their all-seeing eyes.

Naruto settled into his stance, with the katana held out in front of him in a two handed grip. His opponent took what must have been the standard **Jyuuken** stance. The Konoha shinobi struck first as he dashed at Naruto, lashing out at him as he got close. Naruto avoided the first two strikes but knew he couldn't keep up with the speed and precision of his enemy so he swung the sword at the Hyuuga, forcing him to jump back and gaining Naruto a short break from the pale-eyed boy's onslaught. Naruto knew he was better off on the offensive against a Hyuuga so he charged him while channeling futon chakra through his blade. The Hyuuga immediately saw what was going on and knew he couldn't try to deflect the blade or block it with a kunai. He probably wouldn't be able to evade him either since he could tell his opponent was fast as well.

Shifting his stance slightly he waited until Naruto was just outside of striking distance before quickly spinning and yelling, "**Kaiten!" **As Naruto slashed at his enemy the katana crept closer before suddenly it was repelled by a powerful sphere of chakra that seemed to be coming from the Hyuuga. The force of the sphere's rotation sent Naruto flying, but he managed to flip and land on his feet, sliding back a few paces.

Naruto considered this technique the Hyuuga had just performed. If he had to guess it must have used a lot of chakra. It had delivered a very strong blow to him, and that was only from hitting one point of the sphere. It would take a significant amount of chakra to use a technique that strong. Meaning of course that it had to be used sparingly. The Hyuuga would probably only use it when he absolutely had to. This boosted Naruto's confidence and he decided this was a minor setback.

From the short engagement Naruto could tell he was faster, but it would only take one strike to possibly destroy his ability to fight. One tap could lose the fight, so he'd have to be extra cautious. Keeping this in mind, he circled the Hyuuga. The dark haired boy eyed Naruto carefully before Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed. He was not surprised when the blonde boy appeared to his left, he had seen it coming after all. He leaned back to avoid a slash at his neck before redirecting the next swing with a light push. Naruto was quite impressed, but it didn't matter.

Naruto channeled wind chakra through his sword and swung it at the Hyuuga again. Seeing the chakra coursing through his opponent's katana, he hastily moved back, ending up slightly off balanced in the process. Naruto caught this and gave a strong kick to the Hyuuga's chin, sending him careening into a wall, before picking himself and facing Naruto again.

Naruto could see he really did a number on the Konoha shinobi. Blood was streaking down his face and he looked to be covered in bruises. The thing that stood out to him, though, was the boy's forehead. His hitae-ate must have been knocked off by the kick, leaving his forehead clearly visible. Just below his hairline was a strange seal Naruto had never seen before. Curiosity getting the better of him, he spoke up, "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but I was wondering what that seal is on your forehead? I haven't seen anything like it before."

Naruto thought maybe he shouldn't have asked because the boy's usually stoic face contorted into an expression of anger. "This is the **Hyuuga Soke no Juinjutsu**. As a branch member of the Hyuuga clan I have been forever enslaved to the main house. A single handsign and it can cause unimaginable pain or even death," he spoke bitterly.

"How could the branch members have allowed it to be placed on them initially? Surely they wouldn't go along with it?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"It was originally proposed to keep the Byakugan out of the wrong people's hands. However, it was soon discovered by the branch house that it was also an effective means of controlling them," continued the Hyuuga, disdain clear in his voice.

Naruto had an idea, but he had to be sure before following through with it. "So, I assume this has made you hate the main house correct? Not to mention Konoha is just as guilty for standing by and watching as your kin are oppressed..."

The dark haired boy narrowed his eyes, "Where are you going with this? I don't have time for small talk."

"Answer the question and you'll find out," Naruto responded stubbornly.

This irked the Hyuuga, it was annoying how the blonde boy had ignored his question. He supposed the longer they talked, the more time he had to recuperate, so he decided to humor him, "Of course I resent the main house. It disgusts me the way the other branch members practically lick the boots of the main family. Unfortunately I cannot escape the clan, as I'm bound by this accursed seal. As for Konoha, I hold no love for this village," he said distastefully.

"That's quite the problem you have there, too bad you don't know any fuinjutsu experts that could remove it for you. Oh wait, you do," Naruto said cheekily.

"What do you mean?"

"I could remove that seal for you... but my expertise do not come free," responded the jinchuriki.

"What do you want? And how do I know you can really do it? And even if you can, the main house will find out and rebrand me," questioned the Hyuuga carefully.

"I want you to gather information until I return. Find as much information on the skills of this village's jonin, as well as patrol patterns and guard shifts... as for how you could know? You can't. But it shouldn't matter, since you will remain here until I return. When I next see you I will have come up with a counter for it. Once I remove it you have the choice of taking your chances here or leaving the village and coming with me."

"Very well... but if you are lying to me, I WILL kill you," said the Hyuuga, "How will I know when you return?"

"Don't worry about it, you'll know," he replied as he quickly copied the Hyuuga's seal onto a spare scroll. Once he finished he turned and began walking away.

"Wait! What's your name?" the Hyuuga asked.

Naruto turned his head and grinned, "Uzumaki Naruto."

Neji nodded, "Hyuuga Neji."

"See you around, Hyuuga Neji," Naruto said before turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

Neji had a lot to think about today. He was skeptical of Naruto, but he had nothing to lose by playing along. After all, everything had already been taken from him.

* * *

><p>Naruto patted himself on the back for what he had accomplished. Everything he came here for had worked near perfectly. Additionally, he had a new spy and ally in that Neji kid. As soon as he removed that seal, he'd see about bringing him out of the village with him. After all, he'd appreciate some company. Naruto was broken from his thoughts when he saw the gate. He quickly ducked into a side street and analyzed the situation.<p>

The two chunin guards he had seen earlier were still there, that was not a surprise. What worried him though was the ANBU squad who seemed to be speaking with them. 'They probably discovered the body and want to lock down the village,' Naruto thought. That couldn't happen, though. He had a decent level of stealth, but it wasn't his specialty and he couldn't hide from the ANBU for long.

Sighing in resignation, he left his hiding place and walked toward the village exit. There was no chance of him being able to sneak past them. He pretended to remain calm, but inside he was quite nervous. He had only really fought with Akifumi before, and though he was strong, he didn't measure up to an entire ANBU squad.

The ANBU sensed his presence immediately, and turned to face him. A moment later the chunin did as well. "Halt! Until further notice the village is on lockdown. Nobody goes in our out until Hokage-sama gives the ok," a boar masked ANBU, who seemed to be the squad's captain, spoke.

"Ah, well I'm afraid I'm in quite a hurry. I don't suppose you could make an exception?" asked Naruto, with no real hope that they'd comply.

Under his mask the boar ANBU narrowed his eyes, "Take him into custody," he spoke with authority, as he motioned for his three subordinates to take Naruto in. Naruto put his hands up as the three ANBU neared him. Once they were close, though, he smirked. Knowing what was about to happen, the captain yelled at his men, "Get Back!"

It was too late as Naruto as he verbalized, "Kaze no Yaiba," and brought the wind blade toward his enemies. The attack sliced through the front half of the man's neck, killing him near instantly as he toppled over. Naruto followed through the swipe, hoping to kill the other two. The ANBU with a sparrow mask gasped in pain as the wind blade sliced through his shoulder muscle, rending his left arm completely useless. The third cat-masked ANBU managed to only receive a light cut along her collarbone, grateful she reacted in time. The two surviving ANBU hopped back to regroup.

Naruto wanted to finish them off before they could recuperate, but the ANBU in the boar mask stopped him. This was bad. Naruto had only killed or injured the others because they were not only surprised with the attack, but were also significantly weaker than their captain. Even with those factors, he had only managed to really take two out of the fight, and the two chunin were still here as well. He quickly unsealed his katana for the third time that day and quickly slashed at the boar ANBU.

The ANBU captain was slightly surprised by the small amount of skill the boy showed in fuinjutsu to have placed seals on himself, but shrugged it off. He evaded the blow easily and pulled out two kunai. The next blow from Naruto, which he parried skillfully. Again the blonde boy swung at him, this time with a downward slash. 'This is getting annoying,' thought the ANBU captain. He caught the blade between the kunai and was about to kick the boy away when he quickly realized his mistake. His kunai were just a moment away from being sliced clean through, as he could see chakra emanating from his opponent's sword. He jumped away, leaving the now useless kunai behind him.

As Naruto watched the boar ANBU jump away, he could see the remaining five shinobi group together and prepare to strike as a unit. This worried Naruto, he didn't stand a chance, he'd have to attempt an escape at this point. He soon noticed his opponents were no longer standing between him and the gate, causing him to inwardly smirk. Naruto pulled out two kunai with explosive tags. These weren't regular tags though. Akifumi had taught him how to modify them to make them many times more destructive. They took a long time to make due to their complexity, but Naruto figured this was as good a time as any to use them.

He threw them as hard as possible at the Konoha shinobi before detonating it when it reached them. For good measure he dropped all the smoke bombs he had with him and raced out the gate amid the confusion. After running for a minute or two he dared to turn his head and sighed in relief as he noticed he was not being pursued. 'That was close. It's obvious now that I'm not as strong as I should be yet. If I can't survive an encounter with a single ANBU team I won't live much longer,' he thought with a frown. No doubt his description would make its way to Konoha's leadership, and it wasn't impossible for them to connect the dots. If they did discover anything, he'd likely have hunter-nin or worse sent after him.

'It doesn't matter right now, I can worry about that later. It's time I plan my next move.'

Naruto found the small hollow he hid his belongings and slung the scroll over his back. He ran away from Konoha quickly. He may have lost any pursuit, but he wasn't in the clear quite yet.

'Danzo-sama will want to know about this,' a shadowy figure wearing a blank ANBU mask thought to himself. He quickly disappeared from sight to inform his superior what he had seen.

* * *

><p><strong>If it wasn't clear, Kakashi is now the Godaime Hokage. The details of the invasion had little impact on Naruto's plans, so that wasn't talked about extensively. Here's a brief summary of the differences: Everything about the chunin exams happened just as it did in canon. Orochimaru killed the Sandaime Hokage. The Ichibi was released on Konoha and caused much destruction unlike canon, before Jiraiya managed to subdue it with the help of his toad summons. The Kazekage's children were held hostage and still are by Konoha as insurance. Tsunade was poisoned by Orochimaru after trying to betray him and was in no condition to heal herself. She needed to rest somewhere stable so was taken back to Konoha by Jiraiya to recuperate. She was forced to confront her demons and winded up staying in the village as head of medical core. Sasuke escaped without the Oto four dying, since the sand siblings never arrived to help. Kimmimaro never had to intervene, but Sasuke still didn't arrive in time before Orochimaru had to take a new host.<strong>

**I've been having a small bit of difficulty deciding when to use Romaji words or just regular English. Let me know what you think about it and if there are any major discrepancies in my use of them.**

**There was a small bit of interaction with Neji this chapter. Future chapters will have a lot more interaction between canon characters.**

**Hyuuga Soke no Juinjutsu - Hyuuga Main Family's Cursed Seal Technique - **seal is branded on all branch house members in the Hyuuga clan by members of the main house. Seals away byakugan upon death, but also used as a way of controlling branch members. A single hand seal can cause the seal to detroy the bearer's brain cells.

**Kaiten - Revolving Heaven -** releases a huge amount of chakra from all the chakra points on the user's body. After releasing chakra from every tenketsu in their body, the user then spins rapidly to parry the attack, both creating a rotating shield of chakra around themselves and tossing away any nearby attackers

**Till next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope everyone had a pleasant Halloween. Sorry for the longer-than-usual wait.**

**Wacko12: naruto should start gathering allies. He should recruit Jugo! Will he get allies? What's his goal?**

**A: Naruto already has Neji as an ally, as long as he delivers. He will get more allies as time goes on. He currently wishes to crush the great villages and make them feel the same pain Uzu has. Sort of like Nagato but for much more selfish reasons. It remains to be seen whether that will change.**

**Thor94: but i think naruto look weak if he had difficult to take a genin or few anbu, especially for someone having good teaching and friendly with kurama**

**A: Keep in mind Kakashi was an ANBU captain, and I'd assume he was in his prime at that point. Itachi was an ANBU captain before he got sick. ANBU are or at least should be frickin strong. Neji (who specializes in taijutsu) was a chunin, and Naruto was limited to ken and taijutsu at the time (had an easy time anyway). He is not 'friendly' with Kurama, Kurama simply doesn't resent him at the moment. All that aside, even if he could fight an entire ANBU squad and two chunin, more would arrive.**

**plums: I still see absolutely nothing gained from this 'infiltration'. Did he steal family scrolls / his inheritance back? Nope. Did he sabotage the village in some great manor while he was there? Nope. Did he stupidly try and flee the villlage directly after murdering a nurse in the hospital and only gaining 1 medical file? Yep. This chapter makes no sense at all. The risk vs reward payoff for Naruto is simply not there**

**A: Despite the fact this was already answered in the story, I'll respond anyway. He knew nothing of the outside world, having been in isolation. He did not know who his parents were, and only those in Konoha knew. I don't know about you but family is important to me. If I had a chance to discover my parentage, I'd take it. As for fleeing after impersonating a doctor, slicing his way into a classified section of the hospital, and killing a nurse, I'd be interested to know what you thought should have happened. By the time he left the hospital they had already found the body. Naruto will probably never be strong enough to fight off the entirety of Konoha just because he wants to go sightseeing. Naruto didn't steal his family scrolls (that consist of what, two jutsu?) because I am not gonna make the mistake of giving Naruto something like hiraishin. Not only is the idea completely overused, it makes combat confusing and boring. Oh he teleported again? Great. His inheritance is not exactly accessible. That was a mouthful.**

**God-ShadowEx100: naruto should not have had any issues with neji, secondly you had better kill sas-gays pathetic queer ass**

**A: I explained why Naruto didn't crush Neji instantly above. I'm not gonna tear any characters a new one for the sake of it, or at least I won't go out of my way to do it, so Sasuke will not be disemboweled the moment he enters the story. He may be a douche, but every one deserves a second cha... fifth? Fuck it, he's not going anywhere for now.**

**Assassin Master Uzumaki: will you have naruto rebuild his clans village making a new whirlpool village?**

**A: That's the goal at least. Maybe he'll fall on his own kunai this chapter and never achieve anything, who knows? **

* * *

><p>-Hokage's Office-<p>

"Are you certain?" asked a man with grey, gravity-defying hair. He managed to maintain an air of non-chalance and laziness despite his current position and the information he'd received.

"Yes Hokage-sama. Both I and my team saw him. He was not **Henged** at the time, I can personally confirm that," replied the ANBU captain, unsure of why his superior had taken such an interest in the intruder's description.

"Very well, you can go now."

The boar-masked ANBU bowed before using a **Shunshin** to leave the room. Kakashi's one visible eyebrow furrowed at the report he had been given moments ago. An intruder managed to infiltrate his village and break into a secure location. He'd have to remind himself to tighten security as well as replace whatever idiots had been posted at the gate. What really bothered him, though, was the very familiar description he had received. 'Sensei? No, I saw his corpse myself. Only one other person could have possibly matched the account, but he's been missing for 7...'

The copy ninja's eye widened in realization. His sensei's son had disappeared years ago and it took him a long time to get over it. Up till this point feelings of regret would rise to the surface every time he thought about the poor boy. He had been forbidden from treating Naruto differently than any other children but he knew he could have and should have persisted. If only he had taken care of the boy, then maybe he wouldn't have been spirited away from the village. It was just another mistake on the ever-growing list, and like the others was still weighing heavily on him.

But now, a boy matching his looks at the appropriate age suddenly appears out of nowhere. It seemed too good to be true, and maybe it was. Kakashi couldn't fathom why Naruto would return to Konoha after so many years, only to commit a grievous crime and leave the village once again. Though doubtful, it was still worth investigating. He owed it to his sensei and father figure to look after his son, and if he was still alive, well he'd need to know about it, regardless of what he had done.

Unfortunately, the initial search was called off after dozens of trails were found leading in every direction imaginable. Whoever the teenager was, he was clever. He just didn't have the resources to send his subordinates after each of the leads.

His line of thought was broken when his two advisors as well as a man mostly wrapped in bandages entered the room. He sighed. His job was hard enough without having these old geezers constantly pestering and antagonizing him.

* * *

><p>Hi no Kuni, Eastern Seaboard, Two Days Later<p>

Naruto was pleased with himself for using **Mizu Bunshin** to throw any pursuers off his trail. They wouldn't be able to even begin searching for him until he was already out of the country. Speaking of which, a small port town suddenly came into view for Naruto. He descended into the village that would take him away from Hi no Kuni, breathing in the fresh ocean breeze. Something about the sea was liberating, and the blonde felt noticeably lighter.

He **Henged** into a copy of himself, but with dark brown hair and civilian clothes rather than his ANBU-esque clothing he currently had on. There was no reason to draw attention to himself unnecessarily. He wandered through the town, taking his time just enjoying the sights. Naruto decided he liked travelling. After being cooped up for 7 years it was nice to have a change of scenery. Naruto's expression visibly drooped. He just wished he could share his experiences with Akifumi. He had been distracted from some time by his personal mission. He had no time to dwell on depressing thoughts, but he did now.

His grandfather's death was a wakeup call for the blonde jinchuriki. Regardless of the impressive progress he had made in recent years, he needed to be better. Of course Naruto knew the size of his already massive reserves made advanced medical jutsu along with anything that required a high degree of control out of reach for now. He would find a way around it though. He wouldn't allow himself to be limited, and he wouldn't make the mistake of specializing in a single field. If he became close to someone else only for them to die in his arms again, he didn't know if he could handle it.

By now the Naruto had reached the docks. He began asking around, seeing if there were any trips to Mizu no Kuni. All he got were funny looks or laughter. Exasperated, he asked a ship captain why none of the ships were going to Mizu no Kuni. The man snorted, "Who would want to sail straight into a civil war? Times are tough but few people aren't that desperate."

Naruto sighed. It didn't seem like luck was on his side today. Going down the rows of ships the answer was always the same. As he reached the end of the line, he spotted a run down and rotting ship that had obviously seen better days. On the dock in front of it was what he assumed was the captain, a middle aged man with unkempt grey hair and a scraggly beard who appeared to be drinking heavily. Naruto figured it was better than nothing and walked up to the man. The captain didn't seem to notice him until Naruto tapped him on the shoulder. The man spun around a little too fast and tripped himself.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose but waited patiently for the man to regain his bearings. "What do you want?" the man asked irritably.

"I need a ship to take me to Mizu no Kuni," the man laughed mockingly, "How much will it take?"

"130,000 yen," a smug look found its way onto the captain's face. There was no way this boy would be willing to pay such an amount.

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, pulling out a large wad of money. The man's eyes bulged when he saw the Uzumaki counting the money. He quickly accepted it before motioning to follow him.

After a short tour, Naruto made his way to the ship's small quarters. There was little more than a single bed and only a few extra feet of space. It didn't seem he'd be able to work on Neji's seal during the trip, but he'd make use of this down time regardless. He sat on his bed and began to focus inward. After a minute or two of clearing his thoughts and meditating, he felt a small tug on his mind. He allowed the feeling to pull him in and everything went dark.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke inside his now familiar mindscape. It was still disorienting to wake up without actually going to sleep, but he was growing accustomed to the feeling. He pulled himself up and looked around. Following the path of craters and trenches, he was soon led to the Kyuubi. Naruto noticed the distinct lack of any mountains, even though he had seen them the last time he was here. "Having fun I see." Naruto's face adopted an amused smirk.<p>

**"Oh, it's you. What are you here for? I have no interest in chatting, no matter how monotonous my imprisonment may be,"** the Kyuubi rumbled.

"And here I thought you were beginning to warm up to me," Naruto's expression turned serious, "I'd like to propose a deal."

The bijuu remained silent for a moment. **"Go ahead."**

"I'm not asking for much. Just a fraction of your power without the overwhelming bloodlust and rage that comes with it."

The Kyuubi scoffed at him,** "And why would I let a child play with my chakra whenever he likes?"**

Naruto ignored the child comment and retorted, "It would be in your best interest. Whether you admit it or not we both know you won't be able to break free from the seal any time soon. Giving me more access to your power only increases your chances of survival. And don't think I have nothing to offer. I can weaken the seal enough that you will have access to my senses and be relieved of your boredom. As an added bonus, I'll let you have your fun every once in awhile, so long as you don't harm friends of mine."

**"How much of my power do you desire?"** the fox asked slowly.

"Three tails' of chakra is acceptable."

**"Very well. I suppose you have some sort of contract?"**

Naruto nodded, before a massive scroll appeared in front of the Kyuubi. He read it carefully before nodding to himself, drawing blood and planting a massive paw print on the scroll as confirmation of the pact. The scroll disappeared and Naruto smirked again at the his prisoner. "Good doing business with you, Kyuubi."

The Kyuubi grunted. Naruto took this as a sign to leave and disappeared from sight. He awoke from the meditation and stretched his muscles. The Kyuubi had been unusually cooperative during the visit. Maybe he really was growing on that furry ball of hatred. He had gotten everything he wanted from the deal, and as soon as his conditions were met he'd have unlimited access to a portion of his bijuu's chakra. That much power without any loss of control could change the outcome of any fight.

Out of respect for the Kyuubi he would use it only when necessary though. If he wanted a better relationship with his tenant then he would need to prove he was trustworthy.

Naruto cleared these thoughts from his mind as he prepared to sleep. He needed to be ready for whatever chaos he would find in Mizu no Kuni. He would need to be aware of his surroundings and being well rested would be conducive to that. It took him a considerable amount of time to fall asleep due to the lack of stability on the rotting ship. He drifted into a dreamless sleep as the boat navigated toward the war zone.

* * *

><p>Morning came swiftly and Naruto woke. He rubbed his eyes groggily as he dragged himself out of bed and climbed up to the deck. He was pleased to see a dark strip of land on the horizon. They'd reach land in under an hour, and the ship still hadn't capsized like Naruto had feared.<p>

He went back to his small cabin and got dressed for battle. He donned his chestplate, greaves, and gauntlets over his long-sleeved black shirt and ANBU pants. He unsealed a black hooded cloak he had brought with him, knowing it could become quite cold where he was headed. With the hood up every part of his body but the lower half of his face, ankles, and feet were hidden. He chuckled to himself. He knew he probably appeared pretty intimidating right now. Humans have a strong fear of the unknown, and doing something as simple as covering his face would give him an advantage.

After dressing Naruto went through a quick supply check to see if he still had an acceptable amount of ninja tools and food. He had plenty of weapons left, but he had not brought much food with him when he left his home and he hadn't picked up any since then. Hopefully he wouldn't need more than what he currently had.

He returned to the deck of the ship and wandered to the bow. The captain was nowhere to be seen at the moment and he was glad of that fact. He leaned against the side of the boat and watched the island slowly become larger and larger. It would only be another 10 minutes or so before they were able to dock. However, the captain called to Naruto who turned and gave the ragged man a questioning look.

"This is as close as I'll take you. I don't want to get mixed up in the trouble over there," the man said adamantly.

"Whatever," responded the blonde jinchuriki. He was slightly irritated but he could run from this point so it wasn't much of an issue. Without saying anything further he hopped off the side of the ship and landed gracefully on the surface of the water. He jogged before breaking into a run as the captain turned his ship around and headed back to Hi no Kuni. He reached the shore shortly, and took a moment to take in his surroundings.

He was on a beach that stretched as far as he could see, which wasn't that far considering the entire island was veiled in a thin mist. A good way up the beach was a thin forest. Anything beyond that was obscured by the mist and trees. He made his way towards the treeline at a more subdued pace. He had to be on guard moving forward. It would be embarrassing if he died before he accomplished anything.

He really didn't know where he was headed at the moment. He was hoping for some clue on where the rebel forces he had heard about were encamped. They were probably not near Kiri, since the Mizukage was probably firmly entrenched there. That meant they had to be hiding somewhere on the northern half of the island. It hardly gave him any clues, but it was a start.

He blazed a path inland hoping to find civilization. If he could reach a village they should be able to point him in the right direction at least. He continued running for an hour or so before stopping abruptly when he heard a far-off explosion. 'Guess it's my lucky day'

He approached the source of the sound while masking his chakra and remaining quiet. As he drew near he could hear more explosions and the sound of metal clashing with metal. He was forced to jump out of the way when he spotted a stray suiton jutsu heading at him. The ball of water slammed into a tree behind him with enough force to partially uproot it. Keeping an eye out for anymore attacks, he reached the edge of the clearing. A middle-aged shinobi wearing a blue kimono with spiky blue hair and an eye patch over his right eye who appeared to be a rebel was currently holding off three hunter-nin. He was keeping them away from the downed rebels behind him, each bleeding profusely. It seemed the situation was dire, so Naruto decided not to waste any time.

Naruto, still in his hiding place, went through a series of handsigns before thinking **'Futon: Renkudan'**. The compressed ball of wind chakra struck the nearest hunter-nin in the side and sent him careening into the treeline, knocking over one of the other hunter-nin along the way. The unfortunate loyalist was impaled on a tree branch, dying near-instantly. His two comrades were distracted enough for the rebel shinobi to get the drop on one. He drove the kunai through the downed man's chest and threw several shuriken at the other. The last remaining Kiri ninja reacted quick enough and received only a shallow cut on his side from the weapons.

Naruto jumped into the clearing and landed next to the lone rebel ninja. The blue-haired man stole a glance at him and turned back to his opponent. He assumed that the cloaked individual was not an enemy, considering he had helped him.

The hunter-nin was just beginning to grasp the severity of the situation, and tried to make a run for it. He tossed a kunai with an explosive tag at Naruto and the rebel shinobi and sprinted in the opposite direction. When the smoke cleared only the rebel still remained. The hunter-nin soon discovered why when his face was suddenly met with a fist. He was hit with enough force that his mask splintered and dug into his face, causing him to bleed. He tried to get up only for the blonde to roundhouse kick him on the side of his head, knocking him into a tree. He was knocked unconscious on impact and slumped against the tree.

Naruto looked at the three injured rebels behind the man with the eye patch. The man understood the gesture and hurried back to his incapacitated comrades. He quickly slung one over his shoulder, while Naruto made two **Mizu Bunshin** which picked up the other two. The original Naruto picked up the unconscious hunter-nin, figuring the rebels might want to interrogate him. He turned to the freedom fighter. "Lead the way"

The man nodded and ran into the forest, Naruto and his clones close behind. They ran in silence for a few minutes, before the rebel spoke up "Ao."

Naruto's eyes flickered to him for a moment before he responded, "Naruto."

"I appreciate the help but you're still going to have to stick around so you can be asked some questions," the now identified Ao said.

"I understand. And it was the right thing to do, no need to thank me."

Ao nodded, and the silence resumed. They continued to tree hop through the forest until they felt several presences. Naruto tensed, while Ao didn't seem to react. A half dozen shinobi in ragged clothing cut them off. As soon as they saw who it was their faces brightened, "Ao-sama, Mei-sama was getting worr-," the speaker paused as he noticed the boy beside him, "Who is this Ao-sama? Why did you bring him to our camp?"

"Don't worry, he's a friend. Had he not helped me I would probably be dead right now."

The rebels were not entirely convinced but nodded anyway. Naruto and Ao handed off the wounded and the POW while the other shinobi motioned for them to follow. "Mei-sama will want to see you right away Ao-sama, along with the boy accompanying you."

"I guessed as much. He-," he gestured toward Naruto, "Already agreed to being questioned, I'm sure he won't mind talking to Mei."

Naruto nodded as confirmation, and he followed his guides through the camp. He was surprised by the size of the place. It was massive, and it seemed that civilians lived there as well, alongside the ninja. It functioned like a small village, with makeshift shops and markets mixed with barracks and supply depots. They passed the camp hospital, and Naruto was able to make out dozens of bodybags being carried out the door and lined up behind the facility. It seemed things were not going so well, and the expressions on people's faces attested to that. He continued to assess the state of the camp until the command tent came into view. It was easy to spot because it was larger than the rest and there was a steady stream of ninja entering and leaving.

Ao entered the tent, but the two guards on the outside stepped in front of Naruto. Understanding what was going on, Ao told them that Naruto was with him. They entered the tent and it was abuzz with activity. Ao ignored the commotion and continued to the back of the tent. Naruto followed him until they came to a more private section separated by screens. He could hear talking from the other side, and apparently so could Ao, because they stopped and waited patiently for the meeting to end. They weren't able to catch much but it sounded like negotiations for some type of funding. After nearly a half hour, a man dressed in a formal kimono exited the room. He had a smirk on his face, pleased by the outcome of whatever they were speaking about.

They entered the makeshift office and to say Naruto was surprised would be an understatement. This Mei who was apparently the rebel commander was hardly 20. Not only that, but she was a woman. In the sexist shinobi world they live in, she had to be especially strong both physically and mentally for so many to follow her. She was a tall, slender woman with ankle-length, auburn red hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs were short, with one covering her right eye, and two long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin. She was wearing a long sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It is closed at the front with a zipper, kept open on the right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore mesh armour that covers slightly more of her upper body than her dress. She also wore a skirt in the same color as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she was wearing a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, and blue lipstick. She currently had her hands covering the upper half of her face.

What stood out the most, of course, was the familiar red hair. It was similar to Akifumi's hair, who had told him the only people outside of Suna with red hair were Uzumaki. He had a feeling this woman was an Uzumaki, or at least partially. It would be unlikely for anyone in Suna to travel all the way to Kiri to have a family, and Uzu had been very close to Kiri. Either way, it should be easy to find out.

Ao coughed to gain Mei's attention. She removed her hands from her face, allowing Naruto to see her dark green eyes. When she saw Ao a warm but tired smile found its way onto her face. "Ao, I'm relieved that you're back, I was getting worried. What happened out there?"

Ao's expression visibly darkened. "We were ambushed. We had already destroyed the target and were in friendly territory when a squad of hunter-nin intercepted us."

Mei frowned. "It's not like them to stray so far into our territory. They're getting bolder." Her eyes landed on Naruto, who still had his hood up. Besides a few locks of blonde hair, she couldn't see much of him. She turned to Ao and asked, "And who is this you brought with you?"

Ao was about to respond, but Naruto cut him off while watching Mei carefully, "Uzumaki Naruto, at your service, Mei-san," he said as he removed his hood. Ao frowned thinking Naruto had not shown proper respect, while Mei choked on her own spit making her cough a few times.

Naruto smiled. She may be powerful but she sure was terrible at hiding her emotions. "Something wrong Mei-san?" he asked, feigning concern.

Mei's gentle expression changed as she narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "What do you think you're doing?" she questioned Naruto in an accusatory tone.

Naruto was not expecting this type of response. "What do you mean?"

"You said you were an Uzumaki, but there has never been an Uzumaki with blonde hair. You're spitting on that name by using it so lightly," she seemed to be getting angrier.

"Actually, my mother was an Uzumaki while my biological father had blonde hair." Naruto tossed his mother's medical file he had stolen onto Mei's desk. "What interests me though is why you seem so bothered by the idea of me disrespecting that name. Does this mean you're an Uzumaki?"

The tension was lifted somewhat though Mei was still a little skeptical of the explanation. She answered the question anyway, "Officially no, but yes I have Uzumaki blood."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Officially?"

The redhead sighed. "My surname is actually Terumi, as was the rest of my family. Keeping the name Uzumaki was dangerous, I'm sure you know why." Naruto nodded. Kiri would not have wanted to harbor a group of Uzumakis so soon after Uzu's destruction. It would cause serious problems with the other nations if they knew some survived. "Unfortunately when the bloodline purges began my family was killed. My parent's died so I could escape, and here I am now." She was beginning to tear up a bit but controlled herself.

Naruto gave Mei an apologetic look. He couldn't quite relate, but he understood the pain of loss.

A bit more subdued than earlier, Mei spoke up again, "So tell me Naruto-san, why exactly are you here? The entire country is a warzone, if you're vacationing you've come to the wrong place."

Naruto chuckled. "Actually, that's exactly why I came here. I can easily see things aren't going too well from the sorry state most of your people are in."

Mei looked at Naruto incredulously. "And how is a kid your age going to make a difference? The Mizukage's forces outnumber us 2 to 1. One teenaged shinobi isn't going to win us the war."

Ao interjected, "Mei-sama, he was actually the one who saved me and my team from the hunter-nin. He managed to kill one, helped me kill another, and incapacitated the last. Besides, we need all the help we can get. We shouldn't refuse help, we can't afford to."

Mei looked at Naruto again. "Are you sure you want to do this? I won't lie, there's a very good chance of you dying in the field."

Naruto scoffed, "I'm not going to die. I have far too much to do for me to die."

The rebel leader sighed. "Well since you are so adamant I will accept your help. However, I cannot send you on normal missions yet. Just because we are family does not mean I can trust you."

"I would be worried if you did. What do I need to do for you to be sure of my intentions?"

The redhead tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We are short on manpower, and some people were exiled before the civil war started. One of those people is Momochi Zabuza. His crimes were against the Mizukage, Yagura, so I have no problem pardoning him. That is, if he joins our cause. Your job is to find him and give him the offer, and do anything possible to convince him and any subordinates he may have." She handed him the letter of pardon. "You should be careful though. He was a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and is very dangerous. He may even try to fight you. If you complete the mission I'll give you a position in our forces."

"Where exactly is he?" Naruto inquired. Hopefully it was close so he could finish the mission quickly. It was necessary to build trust but he didn't like being a messenger.

Mei gave him an apologetic look. "He was last seen in Nami no Kuni, working for the businessman Gato. That would be the place to start. It'll be a fairly long mission so you should pack for a few weeks. Good luck."

Naruto groaned. Nami no Kuni was on an island on the other side of Hi no Kuni. He was hoping to stay away from Konoha and Hi no Kuni for as long as possible, but it seemed unavoidable. Naruto nodded though and exited the tent.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Originally this chapter was a little longer but I wound up cutting some of it off.<strong>

**Naruto had an easy time with the hunter-nin because he had the element of surprise, and they were already exhausted. Naruto currently has the skill of an average ANBU (a lot more power though) and that will improve quickly as he gains experience. **

**The more Naruto accomplishes the more he garners unwanted attention from certain unsavory elements. The plot should be less linear as time goes on.**


End file.
